Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises

Geithner, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary, confesses early on in his memoir that a lack of natural public speaking gifts presented a challenge in his rise to power in government. In delivering the audio edition, Geithner presses along in a manner that projects competence and a generally relaxed manner, even though his delivery lacks passionate inflection. One gets the sense that the respected financial expert is indeed telling us his story as opposed to simply reading printed pages; it’s just that Geithner’s style of conversation reflects his cerebral and technocratic nature. In the later sections of the recording, Geithner does project a bit of intensity when defending the record of the Obama administration with regard to the state of the U.S. economy, though the tone is not so much that of a rabid true believer as a numbers expert frustrated by the ignorance voiced by critics. (May)