The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 Review
Buy Paul Krugman’s book, The Return of Depression Economics Now at 34% off in hardcover.
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 (Hardcover)
by Paul Krugman (Author)
Textbook Details
* Hardcover: 224 pages
* Publisher: W. W. Norton (December 1, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0393071014
* ISBN-13: 978-0393071016
* Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
* Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
* Rating: 
Textbook Description
In 1999, in The Return of Depression Economics, Paul Krugman surveyed the economic crises that had swept across Asia and Latin America, and pointed out that those crises were a warning for all of us: like diseases that have become resistant to antibiotics, the economic maladies that caused the Great Depression were making a comeback. In the years that followed, as Wall Street boomed and financial wheeler-dealers made vast profits, the international crises of the 1990s faded from memory. But now depression economics has come to America: when the great housing bubble of the mid-2000s burst, the U.S. financial system proved as vulnerable as those of developing countries caught up in earlier crises and a replay of the 1930s seems all too possible.
In this new, greatly updated edition of The Return of Depression Economics, Krugman shows how the failure of regulation to keep pace with an increasingly out-of-control financial system set the United States, and the world as a whole, up for the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s. He also lays out the steps that must be taken to contain the crisis, and turn around a world economy sliding into a deep recession. Brilliantly crafted in Krugman’s trademark style–lucid, lively, and supremely informed–this new edition of The Return of Depression Economics will become an instant cornerstone of the debate over how to respond to the crisis.
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 Review
Nearly a decade ago, Paul Krugman released the first edition of “The Return of Depression Economics,” a book that took a close look at the economic crises in Asia and South America. Then he suggested that we were threatened to return to the economic conditions that caused the Great Depression. Since that time, Wall Street and our economy cooked (minus a minor recession) and people forgot all about his book.
Although the title makes the book sound dismal, Krugman’s book is actually an enjoyable read. The author goes out of his way to avoid a dry, stuffy tone. Instead, he tells simple stories, like the one about the baby sitting co-op in Washington, which he uses repeatedly throughout the book to explain progressively more complex ideas.
For me, the biggest eye-opener offered by this book is Krugman’s explanation of the unregulated shadow banking system that emerged in recent years and has been caving in prior to and during this financial crisis. What are auction-rate securities, and why did the market for them collapse? And why didn’t this get more coverage in the media? Krugman explains this, in part by drawing upon an alarming speech made by Timothy Geithner, Obama’s nominated Treasury secretary, in June 2008 in which Geithner described a “parallel financial system vulnerable to a classic type of run, but without the protections such as deposit insurance that the banking system has in place to reduce such risks.”
This is a great book: readable, informative and timely. I recommend it to anyone who’s eager to dig into a deeper examination of the underlying causes of the financial crisis.