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The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 Hardcover – December 1, 2008
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Paul Krugman
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Paul Krugman
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Print length288 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherW. W. Norton
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Publication dateDecember 1, 2008
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Dimensions6.5 x 0.8 x 9.6 inches
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ISBN-109780393071016
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ISBN-13978-0393071016
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Paul Krugman is the recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics. He writes a twice-weekly op-ed column for the New York Times and a blog named for his 2007 book, The Conscience of Liberal. He teaches economics at Princeton University.
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Product details
- ASIN : 0393071014
- Publisher : W. W. Norton (December 1, 2008)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780393071016
- ISBN-13 : 978-0393071016
- Item Weight : 13.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 0.8 x 9.6 inches
-
Best Sellers Rank:
#834,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #415 in Microeconomics (Books)
- #673 in Macroeconomics (Books)
- #1,341 in Economic Policy
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
333 global ratings
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2021
Verified Purchase
Thought written in 2008-9to explain conditions leading to the Great Recession, this book is just as timely today as economies wither under the pressure of a pandemic that has shuttered businesses and economies and the crying need is to get these economies working again once the pandemic is under control. His prescriptions - the Keynesian Compact - is as timely now as it was in 2008 or 1930.
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2013
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed Microeconomics, History and Finance in college, but found Macroeconomics too boring, dry and subject to too much speculation for my taste. I also did not pay too much attention to the news on the economic troubles of Asia and South America in the 1980's and 90's, or to the economic policies of much of the western world that lead to the current financial crisis that started in 2008 with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This little book explains all these connections. It is not an economics textbook, but rather an easy read for laymen like me with limited knowledge of economics, written by a Nobel prize winner and recommended by a friend economist who knows much more about the subject than I will ever dream of. It helped me understand a lot of what is going on today, why some economic remedies work for some countries but not for others, and I'm very glad I read it.
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2009
Verified Purchase
Paul managed to simplify complex economic problems in an easy way that a simple person like me can relate to it; truly amazing. Any how, this book gives you a deep look at the Asian crisis which rocketed southeast Asian countries between 1997 and 1998, and how we have missed the lessons from this problem. Mr. Krugman plays often the devils advocate; and for that me and many others love him. He has the courage to be critical and to hit where it hurts.
I would love to give five star to this book however I felt that would not be honest. I hope Paul is reading this comment so he can reply back at the NY Times. I loved the example about baby-sitting; that was brilliant; however; at the beginning and at the end of the book Paul stated that the solution was printing more coupons to solve the liquidity problem. I believe he avoided discussing the issue at length because he believes a modest inflation is good. I strongly disagree; I believe inflation will hit the roof to deflate the bubble we are in. I don't believe it would be a bad thing since everything has been inflated and that will encourage exports, however, I wish if he advocated this strongly in this book.
I would love to give five star to this book however I felt that would not be honest. I hope Paul is reading this comment so he can reply back at the NY Times. I loved the example about baby-sitting; that was brilliant; however; at the beginning and at the end of the book Paul stated that the solution was printing more coupons to solve the liquidity problem. I believe he avoided discussing the issue at length because he believes a modest inflation is good. I strongly disagree; I believe inflation will hit the roof to deflate the bubble we are in. I don't believe it would be a bad thing since everything has been inflated and that will encourage exports, however, I wish if he advocated this strongly in this book.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2014
Verified Purchase
Outstanding- Read Krugman, Stiglitz, Bernanke, Geitner Warren, Lewis, Stockman,and Barofsky and you will have a good understating of the 2008 mess. The lesson from of these thoughtful writers is that markets will not protect the public from the excesses of greedy/smart people like the ones who inhabit Wall Street. It is a sad comment that Washington cannot summon the fortitude to bring this mess under control. I guess the money (what was stolen form the markets) is just too much for Washington to do the right thing. I would not vote for any politician in any party without them certifying that they had read at least 5 of the authors.
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2013
Verified Purchase
Paul Krugman is an Economist with a common sense view of how we got into this recession and how to work our way out.
This man is not a "Doomsday writer" about our economic troubles. He has a prospective which is not necessarily compatible with much of the economists in the headlines and economic pages of today.
He is not a "talking head" with a pessimistic view. We are on our way up and out.
I felt much better about the future after I had read this book. I liked it very much.
Leon Emerson
Judge, Ret.
This man is not a "Doomsday writer" about our economic troubles. He has a prospective which is not necessarily compatible with much of the economists in the headlines and economic pages of today.
He is not a "talking head" with a pessimistic view. We are on our way up and out.
I felt much better about the future after I had read this book. I liked it very much.
Leon Emerson
Judge, Ret.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2012
Verified Purchase
I read Prof. Krugman's blog and column regularly, and while I don't agree with him all the time, there is no denying that he is one very smart guy. I remember economics being a rather dry subject to study back in college, but Krugman has the gift of making the subject interesting, at least in writing for the general public, and this book surely does not disappoint. It gives a very good high level explanation of the few major economic crisis in the past few decades; on top of policy, he also explains the impact on economy from the interactions, or inter-workings, between government and financial institutions. I particularly like the discussion on the currency crisis in Southeast Asia in 1997; I finally understand how it spread to Hong Kong after reading the book. Overall a great book to read; the only thing I wish for are references for more in-depth discussion.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2010
Verified Purchase
Krugman talks about the opportunity for USA to superate cyclic crisis.
He asks himself if the economic question depends only by the law of supply and domand or something happens for the financial policy.
The auctor is one of better economists in the world and he prefers an idea to the other utilizing a big quantity of informations.
He is ready to tell us most important questions, from the international strategies to the housewife choices.
His capacity to read the minimal aspects in the market is equivalent to his influence in mass media.
He asks himself if the economic question depends only by the law of supply and domand or something happens for the financial policy.
The auctor is one of better economists in the world and he prefers an idea to the other utilizing a big quantity of informations.
He is ready to tell us most important questions, from the international strategies to the housewife choices.
His capacity to read the minimal aspects in the market is equivalent to his influence in mass media.
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2009
Verified Purchase
Paul Krugman's book was very fun to read, educational, and has taught me more about macroeconomics than my ECON 101 course ever taught me. One thing that has always disturbed me is, why can government simply print money? And if they can simply print money, why are there ever recessions? While basic economics courses are supposed to explain that away, I was admittedly still very confused until I read Krugman's book. In a clear, concise manner, Krugman explains through histories of economic crises the role that governments and macroeconomic policies play, and what economists have learned through the decades about recessions.
I highly recommend this book if you have ever been confused about why an economy can suddenly go from "golden boy" status to "the mother of all" recession, or if you have ever wondered what in the world the national banks actually do.
I highly recommend this book if you have ever been confused about why an economy can suddenly go from "golden boy" status to "the mother of all" recession, or if you have ever wondered what in the world the national banks actually do.
Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent summing up
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2017Verified Purchase
The most important thing about this book is that it was written in the aftermath if the 2008 crises. Think of it as "the big short" by an expert. There aren't really any solutions in here. I'm reviewing this in 2017. Something a bit more up to date is required.
That said if you want to know what went wrong read this. Excellent writer for the non expert. An enjoyable romp through our recent financial foolishness . This is why it all went wrong.
That said if you want to know what went wrong read this. Excellent writer for the non expert. An enjoyable romp through our recent financial foolishness . This is why it all went wrong.
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多讀書
3.0 out of 5 stars
Complex
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2012Verified Purchase
I've been casually reading around economics for the last couple of weeks, in the hopes of trying to understand the economic crisis of 2008. So I bought this book thinking it would explain, in layman's terms, what had happened. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the book but I have to say I was disappointed.
The section devoted to the economic crisis of 2008 is disappointingly small, only a couple of chapters. The rest of the book being devoted to previous recessions and depressions worldwide, such as the Asian crises of the 1990s and the Latin American crises. The explanations seemed to be good enough, but there was a lot more econo-babble than I would have hoped for, and though the author tries to put complicated economical concepts into tangible, real-world examples, even then it's still pretty complicated.
To cut a long story short, the main argument that I can glean from this book is that "speculation" (whatever that may be; irritatingly, it's never made entirely clear in the book) is a bad thing, and causes recessions. So I think the book's section dealing with the 2008 crisis is far too short, there's too much economics jargon and the real-world examples, though admirable, don't quite get it. I think, however, my lack of economics knowledge didn't help matters but I do not feel this should be an issue with a text that seems to promise to make things easy for the non-specialist.
The section devoted to the economic crisis of 2008 is disappointingly small, only a couple of chapters. The rest of the book being devoted to previous recessions and depressions worldwide, such as the Asian crises of the 1990s and the Latin American crises. The explanations seemed to be good enough, but there was a lot more econo-babble than I would have hoped for, and though the author tries to put complicated economical concepts into tangible, real-world examples, even then it's still pretty complicated.
To cut a long story short, the main argument that I can glean from this book is that "speculation" (whatever that may be; irritatingly, it's never made entirely clear in the book) is a bad thing, and causes recessions. So I think the book's section dealing with the 2008 crisis is far too short, there's too much economics jargon and the real-world examples, though admirable, don't quite get it. I think, however, my lack of economics knowledge didn't help matters but I do not feel this should be an issue with a text that seems to promise to make things easy for the non-specialist.
5 people found this helpful
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Herman Norford
4.0 out of 5 stars
World Economic Crises Explained
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2013Verified Purchase
Over the past 20 years there has been a plethora of books on the macroeconomics purporting to address and enlighten us as to the whys and wherefores of the world economic down turn. Paul Krugman's "The Return of Depression Economics" joins the ranks of the over abundance of such books. However, in this case the contents of The Return of Depression Economics come from the pen of a highly esteemed professor of economics and Nobel Prize winner for economics. So has Krugman got anything new to say or does he bring clarity to a subject that can be dense and complex.
For a short, book Krugman is certainly ambitious in terms of the period and number of countries that he covers. He sets his arguments in the context of politics, reminding us of the now old fashion academic discipline known as political economy. Although it could be said that Krugman's economics is of a left leaning brand, he does not shirk from admitting that with the collapse of the Soviet Union the overall economic situation is nonetheless one in which capitalism has won out over socialism. That victory, however, comes with a caveat: "if the current economic crisis persists and deepens capitalism victor won't last forever other ideologies will emerge."
To return to my set question, I am not so sure that Krugman has anything new to say. What I particularly admire about the book was its avoidance of economic jargon and where possible technical and abstract economic concepts. Instead what we get from the book is a plain speaking narrative with Krugman doing his best to explain things by extended analogies for the uninitiated. I was fascinated by the analogy of the baby sitting coop which Krugman used to explain a number of important economic ideas such as the reason for increasing or decreasing interest rates, inflation and the lack of demand in an economy - just to mention a few.
The book attempts to examine most of the significant economic crises of recent times. To that effect it sometimes reads like an economic tour of some far flung countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. In respect of these countries, along with the well established economies, Krugman gives a good explanation of boom and bust. He quite rightly castigates politicians and economist for not learning lessons from the past, for making poor decisions and for not being bold enough to make decisions in a timely manner.
To some extent the book reads like a political polemic. It is broadly a one-sided account of the problems faced by the world's major economies. Whilst Krugman does not explicitly acknowledge that it is a one-sided account he nevertheless implicitly does so. A subsection at the end of chapter states: "Most commentators on The Asian crisis would probably find some detail of the account in this chapter to quarrel with. Some would argue that the damage done by moral hazard-driven lending was greater than I suggest. Some would argue, on the contrary, that the economies were really in good shape, and that the crisis was wholly gratuitous."
For those of us who lack the ability to quickly grasp some of the economic ideas we hear in the daily news or miss the details of some of the interesting stories, Krugman provides brief but good explanations - for example, the workings of hedge funds. Then there are the interesting stories such as how George Soros managed to undermine the pound's position in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. He also provides a good explanation of the development of banks and the coming into being of central banks.
The Return of Depression Economics is a short, highly readable book about the economic problems faced by a number of countries in recent years. The book is a little one-sided perhaps but nonetheless a book that I would recommend.
For a short, book Krugman is certainly ambitious in terms of the period and number of countries that he covers. He sets his arguments in the context of politics, reminding us of the now old fashion academic discipline known as political economy. Although it could be said that Krugman's economics is of a left leaning brand, he does not shirk from admitting that with the collapse of the Soviet Union the overall economic situation is nonetheless one in which capitalism has won out over socialism. That victory, however, comes with a caveat: "if the current economic crisis persists and deepens capitalism victor won't last forever other ideologies will emerge."
To return to my set question, I am not so sure that Krugman has anything new to say. What I particularly admire about the book was its avoidance of economic jargon and where possible technical and abstract economic concepts. Instead what we get from the book is a plain speaking narrative with Krugman doing his best to explain things by extended analogies for the uninitiated. I was fascinated by the analogy of the baby sitting coop which Krugman used to explain a number of important economic ideas such as the reason for increasing or decreasing interest rates, inflation and the lack of demand in an economy - just to mention a few.
The book attempts to examine most of the significant economic crises of recent times. To that effect it sometimes reads like an economic tour of some far flung countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. In respect of these countries, along with the well established economies, Krugman gives a good explanation of boom and bust. He quite rightly castigates politicians and economist for not learning lessons from the past, for making poor decisions and for not being bold enough to make decisions in a timely manner.
To some extent the book reads like a political polemic. It is broadly a one-sided account of the problems faced by the world's major economies. Whilst Krugman does not explicitly acknowledge that it is a one-sided account he nevertheless implicitly does so. A subsection at the end of chapter states: "Most commentators on The Asian crisis would probably find some detail of the account in this chapter to quarrel with. Some would argue that the damage done by moral hazard-driven lending was greater than I suggest. Some would argue, on the contrary, that the economies were really in good shape, and that the crisis was wholly gratuitous."
For those of us who lack the ability to quickly grasp some of the economic ideas we hear in the daily news or miss the details of some of the interesting stories, Krugman provides brief but good explanations - for example, the workings of hedge funds. Then there are the interesting stories such as how George Soros managed to undermine the pound's position in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. He also provides a good explanation of the development of banks and the coming into being of central banks.
The Return of Depression Economics is a short, highly readable book about the economic problems faced by a number of countries in recent years. The book is a little one-sided perhaps but nonetheless a book that I would recommend.
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anozama
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear convincing explanation of the global financial disaster
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2011Verified Purchase
Nobel Laureate Krugman writes with his customary incisiveness and authority about the 2008 global financial crash.
Firstly he reminds the layman of the extent to which market values are affected by volatile emotional factors, such as trader confidence. (This is explored further in Akerlof and Schiller's `Animal Spirits'.)
The main impact of the book, however, is the description of the huge scale of financial speculation and gearing within the parallel banking system. Krugman lays before us the scandalous lack of regulation which he holds as the primary culprit of the collapse. Once he has us reeling with this frightening depiction of unrestricted and irresponsible financial wizardry, he goes on to recount the multiple opportunities taken - in the forms of press leaks etc - to manipulate the markets, in order to complete the process of siphoning off the money from those of us who felt the system was in some way trustworthy.
If you'd like to understand where all your savings went, look no further than Krugman's crisp, timely account.
Firstly he reminds the layman of the extent to which market values are affected by volatile emotional factors, such as trader confidence. (This is explored further in Akerlof and Schiller's `Animal Spirits'.)
The main impact of the book, however, is the description of the huge scale of financial speculation and gearing within the parallel banking system. Krugman lays before us the scandalous lack of regulation which he holds as the primary culprit of the collapse. Once he has us reeling with this frightening depiction of unrestricted and irresponsible financial wizardry, he goes on to recount the multiple opportunities taken - in the forms of press leaks etc - to manipulate the markets, in order to complete the process of siphoning off the money from those of us who felt the system was in some way trustworthy.
If you'd like to understand where all your savings went, look no further than Krugman's crisp, timely account.
One person found this helpful
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x iLeon
4.0 out of 5 stars
Up there with the best popular writers
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 11, 2009Verified Purchase
Krugman doesn't just make economics accessible to the layman but also provides his own unique insights, in this case to the global economic crisis we're currently in. He also has his own, idiosynchratically exciting way of explaining concepts. You will find differences with other accounts, such as Stiglitz's (whom I greatly admire and am more keen to agree with), which is good, because it provides more food for thought and challenge to the orthodoxy. If you are interested in the global economic state of affairs, you will greatly appreciate this work.
9 people found this helpful
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