By Karen Laws “It’s important not to forget what happened in 2008 and remain angry,” says Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics and political science at UC Berkeley. One of ten East Bay authors who will be honored at the Northern California Book Awards ceremony in San Francisco next month, Eichengreen has written and edited many scholarly books geared to specialists in his field. But the recent economic crisis left him feeling obliged to offer an explanation to people at large, rather than just his colleagues in academia. The result was Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System, which the Financial Times calls, “A rare combination of macroeconomic mastery, historical erudition, good political instincts and the sort of stubborn common sense that is constantly placing familiar problems in a new light.” Could the book have been written somewhere else besides Berkeley? Professor Eichengreen thinks not. “Being surrounded by chefs and artists and poets inspired me to reach out with my own area of expertise,” he said in a telephone interview. Moreover, the Cal Economics Department is unique among university economics departments in its strong historical focus, an approach that’s close to Eichengreen’s heart. […]
By Karen Laws “It’s important not to forget what happened in 2008 and remain angry,” says Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics and political science at UC Berkeley. One of ten East Bay authors who will be honored at the Northern California Book Awards ceremony in San Francisco next month, Eichengreen has written and edited many scholarly books geared to specialists in his field. But the recent economic crisis left him feeling obliged to offer an explanation to people at large, rather than just his colleagues in academia. The result was Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System, which the Financial Times calls, “A rare combination of macroeconomic mastery, historical erudition, good political instincts and the sort of stubborn common sense that is constantly placing familiar problems in a new light.” Could the book have been written somewhere else besides Berkeley? Professor Eichengreen thinks not. “Being surrounded by chefs and artists and poets inspired me to reach out with my own area of expertise,” he said in a telephone interview. Moreover, the Cal Economics Department is unique among university economics departments in its strong historical focus, an approach that’s close to Eichengreen’s heart. […]