Title: Global Financial Warriors: The Untold Story of International Finance in the Post-9/11 World
Author: John B. Taylor
Publisher: W.W. Norton, 2007
As the title suggests, Global Financial Warriors provides an insider's account of the United States response to a myriad of financial challenges following the 9/11 attacks. The author, John Taylor, under secretary of Treasury for International Affairs (2001-2005), was largely responsible for the creation of teams of "financial warriors" -- an international coalition of mostly anonymous experts from state agencies, international financial institutions and private businesses.
Global Financial Warriors can be read and digested on several levels. On one level it is simply a series of stories of these teams carrying out such tasks as staving off financial crises, rebuilding collapsing economies or cutting short the flow of money to terrorist and criminal organizations. Here there are fascinating accounts of dramatic events and complex personalities in dangerous or exotic places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Argentina, or Turkey.
On another level one finds, contrary to the popular perception of a crony dominated, ideologically driven administration, a US government and bureaucracy approaching complex problems with top-notch teams of objective, dedicated and highly competent technocrats. How these teams responded to crises and developed operational procedures to combat them is a story in and of itself.
Finally, on another level, and one appreciated most by professional economists, is Taylor's account of how he took many of his theoretical breakthroughs developed over the years and applied them in solving complex policy problems in crisis situations.