55: Lessons from the Career of Janet Yellen with Jon Hilsenrath, Author

Take Back Retirement

Today, we sit down with Jon Hilsenrath, a senior writer for The Wall Street Journal, where he has written about economics and finance since 1997. We’re going to learn a little economic history but also a very human story of a woman’s career in a male-dominated field, and of a couple unconventionally sharing family responsibilities long before that was common. Jon has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist several times.

Jon is here to talk about his new book Yellen: The Trailblazing Economist Who Navigated an Era of Upheaval. It details the storied career of former Federal Reserve Chair and now U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is regarded as one of the most influential economic policymakers of her generation.

Listen in as Jon dives into the story behind the writing of the book and his biggest takeaways from his research on the life and times of Janet Yellen and her husband, distinguished economist George Akerlof.

After offering his four lessons on breaking the glass ceiling, Jon does a deep dive into Yellen’s involvement amid the country’s most pivotal economic downturns in recent times, namely the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID lockdowns.

Key Topics:

• Why Jon wrote a book about Janet Yellen (2:51)
• “Why do we care about the Federal Reserve?” (7:14)
• Janet Yellen’s relationship with her husband, Nobel-prize winner George Akerlof (13:01)
• “Lean in, but only when it counts.” (20:39)
• “Have a higher purpose” (23:21)
• Keeping our eyes open to the evolving landscape to help us adapt to it (26:14)
• Yellen’s role in the American Rescue Plan (30:12)
• Looking to our common identity as Americans (39:42)
• The two biggest surprises Jon encountered when doing research for the book (41:50)
• Our final takeaways (53:00)

Resources:

• Jon Hilsenrath’s new book, Yellen: The Trailblazing Economist Who Navigated an Era of Upheaval

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You can find the transcript and more information about this episode at www.takebackretirement.com.

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