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

Although its subject matter strongly interests me, I was wary of buying this book since it's self-published. But I needn't have worried. The book is really well done in every respect. After reading it -- carefully -- I feel like I finally understand the essentials of the U.S. banking system.A word of advice: I recommend taking notes as you read, especially the first two chapters. The rest of the book builds on the concepts introduced in those chapters, and your notes will make it a lot easier to follow the discussion. I originally tried reading the book without notes, but I realized about a third of the way through that I wasn't completely grasping the author's information -- not because his writing is unclear, but because the numerous concepts had become a fog in my memory. I then went back to the beginning and took notes as I went along. It was worth the effort!

The more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know.That’s how I feel after reading this book. While it’s abundant in facts and information, I find myself more lost than before and searching for a way to contextualize it all. I feel as though without this context I have already forgotten or misinterpreted some of the information near the beginning of the book. But that being said, I largely appreciate the abundance of information as most financial books are among the “get rich quick with this one simple trick” category. This offers real information on how our financial system works but is up to you to digest. I think it’s incredibly important to understand our system, much like it’s important to deeply understand the rules (and implications) of all the pieces of chess before being able to play a match proficiently. This book may help you understand the rules of the economic system, but hasn’t laid out the grounds for understanding its implication I feel. Or maybe I’m just stupid, haha.Overall I would recommend the read, But you might need to get a couple books on the subcategories.

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.

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.

This little book is a real gem. My professional experience and education are in finance and accounting but light on economics. This book filled in a lot of gaps I had regarding money and the banking system. It is written from the perspective of someone who spent 5 years on the Desk at the Fed and is not a theoretical or academic treatise but as an accessible, practical guide to banking. It is very well written. concise and sprinkled with real-world examples to reinforce key concepts. The book was published in 2022 and covers relevant issues through the COVID pandemic.

I enjoyed how the book was organized. It was easy to follow and really helped me get a better understanding about the economics of money

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.