This book is a bit of a curiosity: released between the dot com bust and the housing crisis, some of the centrist policies advocated here sound positively antiquated, judging by the current dialogue playing out in the editorial pages and network news chairs.

Rubin is incredibly smart and accomplished, but so much of the book comes across as reactive to whatever the crisis of the day was. He has so many friends among the global elite that he doesn't want to offend, so most issues are reduced to the anodyne, "I worked with X, who was incredibly smart and capable, about issue Y. It's too complex to discuss here, but it needs more of your (the reader) focus and attention."

Of positive note: the 10 point approach (later expanded to 12) approach to Treasury policy.

So far: see the world of through the eyes of a man who went from a Goldman Sachs partner to the Treasury Secretary - excellent insight in economics, White House, and much more...

I liked his insight into events I knew about and others that I didn't know about, especially the private sides of public figures.

Insightful book on the Treasury work.

With the snappy title, you'd think this was a much more interesting book. The sad reality is that Robert Rubin's biography does not live up in style, content or IQ level of the writer. Having obtained kingmaker status as CEO of Goldman Sachs, and treasurer of Bill Clinton, it's obvious that Robert has stories and strong opinions about events. At times he approaches topics with nuance like a good storyteller - one example is with the Tequila crisis in the 90s where he brings how Mexico's currency valuation can have a huge impact in the rest of the world. When he does start talking about economics, Robert can swing and hit pretty well. Maybe it's just his self-assured easy going personality, but the book could not be more empty. Reminds me of an aloof uncle telling his niece about his big suit job and those crazy highs and lows of the working world. Platitudes, general conflicts, and some farm wisdom.

This is the autobiography of Robert Rubin who was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors during the first Clinton administration and Secretary of the Treasury during most of the second Clinton administration. He wrote the book in 2003 so much of his opining on economic matters sounds quaint and dated. He gives detailed accounts of the handling of US guarantees on loans to Mexico and Indonesia in the 90s to prevent economic collapse of those countries. He had no way of knowing that the global economic collapse of 2008 would make everyone forget the third world economic fires he put out in the 90s.

His expressed concern for federal budget deficits sounds archaic, especially coming from a Democrat. He castigates Republicans for squandering the budget surpluses of the last Clinton years on the Bush tax cuts of 2001. He takes a lot of pride in those balanced budgets, not realizing that 20 years later Democrats wouldn't care and Republicans would deny they ever happened. I am sure he is dismayed that currently the only substantive difference in the Democratic and Republican positions on federal budget deficits is that Democrats no longer pretend that they think deficits are bad.

The book itself was fairly interesting, reminding me of a lot of things that I was ignoring during the 90s. He drops a lot of names of the movers and shakers of the last quarter of the 20th century, however, with the exception of Hillary Clinton and Bono, readers under 40 may well struggle to recognize the names.

Good book, liked his outlook

Fun read. Covers his life from GS to White House and then later in Citigroup. Has interesting anecdotes about Financial Crisis that plagued world economy one event after another and how they fought it off.

No Stars, but not a bad read. Robert Rubin is clearly focused and brilliant. His writing on the interdependence of national economies is exceptional...however, the book has a tendency to be repetitive. It also lacks soul and passion...then again he was the Treasury Secretary....I usually like biographical tomes about seemingly dry subjects....but this one is not quite exceptional.

Another book I was told to read by my boss - if you’re v interested in economic policy, probably 4*.

Interesting defence of globalisation.
Clinton is painted in a very flattering light.

Overall, I enjoyed this book although some parts were a little dry. This book is basically a biography of the former Treasury Secretary and as the first head of the National Economic Council during the Clinton Administration. I often judge books by whether I felt enriched or at the very least learned something new or useful and by that standard this was a great book.

A book about Rubin's upbringing and professional experience in banking and politics.

Takeaway
Nothing is for sure. Life is more about odds, choices, and trade-offs. There is no definitive answer. One would be better off focusing on building good process for decision making than judging solely on the outcome because bad decisions can produce good result due to randomness or luck. Conversely, good decisions can produce bad result and one should expect losses as part of the business. Risk taking is unavoidable in life. Think analytically and probabilistically in a mental decision tree. And the only way to refine our odds is through better knowledge and deeper understanding.

Things I enjoyed
o The Powell Doctrine: use overwhelming force in military intervention to secure certainty of result
o Write things down: Rubin often carried a legal pad to keep notes and wrote his analysis down. This is a good practice to keep track of things and hone one's thinking. He said often when a point of clarity is reached, a correct answer would present itself.
o A Way of Life by William Osler: deal with fear of failure by living life in "day-tight compartments"
o Rubin also handled stress and uncertainty by thinking of a failsafe fallback position.
o He also tried to adopt the right frame of mind by focusing on the job in hand instead of worry about the outcome. i.e. mindfulness of present moment
o His philosophy teacher Demos taught: not only to understand the logic of an analysis, but to find the point at which the edifica rested on hypothesis, assumption, or belief.
o Always be skeptical. Never take propositions at face value.
o Find fulfillment within oneself instead of searching outside
o The importance of being sincere: Gus vs. Clinton
o Clinton has unusual listening skill: he made the person not just heard but understood with great sincerity
o Alan Greenspan a master in Q&A
o Even a trader as good as Rubin has no ability in knowing where the market will go short term. The only rational way to profit is to invest based on long term prospect. Example: he felt the market was too high years before the Internet Bubble.
o Company performance is judged by short-term result. This is not ideal but net benefit still over downside because it can avoid longterm cheaters. (I think just like democracy not ideal but can avoid dictators)
o Free trades forces America to become more competitive.
o Overreaction is part of human nature.
o Take profit while the market is good because market sentiment can change very quickly.