Central Banking 101

I read this intermittently over a few days and found myself learning a lot about not just the US Fed and its processes but the financial market on a whole. This book offers a succinct and clear outline of how the Fed guides interest rates by directly interacting with various markets - Treasuries, Corporate Bonds, Agency MBS, Commercial Loans. It also offers a clear overview on the major players in the financial market - primary dealers, commercial banks, hedge funds, and a few others.I also appreciated the short blurbs interspersed throughout the chapters which offered a clear walkthrough of real events. One thing I will note though is that this book is very much focused on the US Fed, which is to be expected considering the author's background working on the open market desk. If you're from any other country this would mean that it doesn't offer a 1:1 picture of the specific mechanics of your central bank but I do think it helps in knowing what the right questions are to ask.In sum, I'd say this is worth the short read, especially if you're like me and aren't familiar with financial markets. 5/5

This self-published book is erudite, lucid, and accessible. I've learned more about the workings of the Fed and financial markets in general from this book than from any other finance/investing/econ/financial journalism book I have ever read -- no joke. Not just about central banking -- this book provides robust, modular, stand-alone coverage of financial markets, money markets, the repo market, currency markets, etc. This is your key to understanding modern macro-finance and financial markets.Notably, I have read multiple books and done a lot of internet reading on how the Fed / central banking work. This books explains it better than all of those other books and, importantly, it is up to date. How the Fed does open market operations has changed dramatically since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and this book captures and explains those changes painstakingy (but, again, accessibly).

The author of the book certainly simplified and explained some complex concepts between the Federal Reserve and various markets quite well. However, he seems to have unfairly stated (almost as a fact) that equity market participants are relative simpletons compared to the credit market participants (who seem to be able to sense “dangers” well ahead of everyone else). I think it has happened before, in terms of credit markets reacting first, but it is also the underlying nature of the asset class that (sometimes) achieve this for the credit guys. Still a largely enjoyable read.

No theories or personal views here. Only information and facts that are basic and easy to understand, for most readers. The book explains in excellent clarity how the US, and to a limited extend some foreign, financial systems work. As an experienced investor and someone who spent 40 years in banking, this book should be required reading for any business or economics students. In fact, for investors, it should be an essential part of a suite of required readings about the macro economic picture in the market, as opposed to just being stuck in a tunnel vision of following bits of daily trends.

The author's writing makes him much more trustworthy than many other writers on the topic. He writes things in a very matter of fact way and only sometimes with some admiration of the complexity of the system. Other authors want you to share their opinions. This author want to teach you how things work as a service for your investment in his book.

Strangely enjoyable to read considering the dry subject matter. Author does a great job explaining how the global monetary system functions, what has caused past disasters, and how central banks have stepped in to even things out.

Amazing explanation of how the financial plumbing of the US works. Great readable "reference" book for the layman. "Reference," in quotes because it's actually engaging unlike most reference books. This book explains how the fed works, what specifically shadow banking is, etc in straight-to-the-point language, with real-world explanations and examples, but without meandering off-topic.It's up-to-date as of Covid but not much after iirc. For the second edition, it'd be great to have a glossary of terms, and quizzes at the end of the chapter would be a bonus.

With his academic background from law school and economics, Joseph Wang tackles the subject of the US (Federal Reserve) and global central banking system. His role as a trader with the New York Federal Reserve gave him additional insight, yet it wasn’t sufficient to achieve his object of wanting “to understand how it all worked” (p.7).The problem with Central Banking 101—unique in its approach— is that it confusingly explains many double-entry accounting entries across the highly complex banking and financial systems. Often, the author isn’t wrong, but neither is he entirely right. Sometimes, his explanations are simply confusing. Remember, the bar here is incredibly high due to the convoluted transactional complexity in today’s global financial world.This book had the potential of being great had the author teamed up with one or more accounting professionals (e.g., CPA, CBA, etc.) with career backgrounds in banking or even the Federal Reserve System.For those wanting a clear understanding of money, monetary policy, and economic stability, including accurate accounting entries, I highly recommend the main Economics textbooks by the late Campbell R. McConnell (1928-2019). Professor McConnell was a CPA and was directly involved in banking for several decades.