The Return of Depression Economics and The Crisis of 2008 (Review)

The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman was the 2008 Nobel Prize Winner for Economics. He is also known for writting a column/blog for the New York Times titled: Conscience of a Liberal.

You hear New York Times columnist, and you may think, liberal idealogue.

While some may try to paint this picture of Paul Krugman, this book does not service the purpose of furthering partisan arguments. Instead, he wrote an easy to read (if you know basic economics) explanation of every major depression of modern times. You'll learn the basis of how each depression started (Japan, Argentina, Mexico, amongst others), and how each country either successfully or unsuccessfully escaped from its grasp.

Throughout the entire argument, he uses an analogy based on a 1970's baby sitting co-op. This makes the book much easier to understand for the amateur economist.

His conclusions may seem partisan - The government needs to spend a large amount of stimulus that will pump capital into a frightened system and the governments should be able to temporarily take over the banks until proper regulations are put in place. - He does so within a highly logical argument that differs from any argument I've heard so far about the economy in that it creates a solution which will help prevent future financial scares without fundamentally changing what works in our economy.

5/5

Find the book here.