Posits that an examination of Burns' tenure as the Chairman of the powerful Federal Reserve Board during most of the 1970s helps to explain the U.S. economy today.
As the Chairman of the powerful Federal Reserve Board during most of the 1970s, Burns presided over what many see as the demise of the postwar economic order. Wells goes beyond demonstrating that Burns greatly influenced the ways that Americans dealt with the crises of the 1970s to posit that an examination of Burns' tenure helps to explain the U.S. economy today.