Last Bow for the Inflation Tamer

Volcker shared blame for a painful recession and credit for a rosy recovery

He is the most revered economic leader of his era, and yet at times he stirred fire storms of public protest. He had profound impact on a $4.3 trillion economy but lived in a tiny $500-a-month apartment furnished with castoffs. He ran his agency in a notably serene and straightforward style, and still his mystique grew so potent that his every move sent global financial markets into spasmodic guessing games about what he was thinking. He towered physically above his colleagues, yet instead of lording over them and issuing orders in his basso profundo voice, he preferred to lean back in...

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