The Buck Stops Here.

 
Greenspan 
The Man Behind Money 
By Justin Martin 
Perseus Books. 288p $28 

I once had a close encounter with Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in a ritzy restaurant in Washington named Galileo. I was being taken there by in-laws; I assume Greenspan was paying his own way. My main worry on seeing him was not the check but his meal.

This is a man whose every utterance is examined for possible indications of his views of the directions of financial markets and interest rates. Stocks rise or fall depending on where he places semi-colons in congressional testimony. Not when E. F. Hutton, but Alan Greenspan speaks--however guardedly--everyone listens. So my main concern that night was simply his digestion. A cough, a sneeze or, my goodness, a burp and the Dow might plummet.

As Greenspan: The Man Behind Money shows, this is because Greenspan leads by indirection. A figure whose power rivals--and, some…