The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008

By: Paul Krugman

Narrated by: Don Leslie

Nobel Prize® winning economist Paul Krugman shows how today's crisis parallels the events that caused the Great Depression - and explains what it will take to avoid catastrophe. In 1999, Paul surveyed the economic crisis that had swept across Asia and Latin America, and warned 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, Paul 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 Paul'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.©2008 Paul Krugman; (P)2008 Rando House Audio

Critic reviews

“The most celebrated economist of his generation.” — The Economist

“Krugman’s facility with both arcane details and vast unified explanations boils down complexity so much that the reader often wonders: Why didn’t I see it that way myself?” — Boston Globe

Spot on!

Great book overall. Covers many aspects & stays fairly neutral. Have downloaded more of his works to listen to.

Easily accessible for those without doctorates

Super accessible and great background on economics and events around the world that the general public may not understand on the surface.

Stay away if you have no economics background.

Ok book, kinda tailored too much to people who work in that field. I was hoping for a more everyday man friendly book. I got the impression that's what it was supposed to be.

Great illustrations of economic problems

Krugman takes economic problems (down turns, recessions/depressions, rallies) from around the world over the last 100 years and highlights key contributing characteristics for ultimate application to the 2008 crisis. While competitive (incorrectly named "free") markets contribute tremendously to quality of life improvements, there are glitches in that environment where government can tweak the money supply to prevent the glitches from causing catastrophe. He uses an analogy from local DC news where an open market approach causes problems because - without tweaking - demand is naturally high in one season low in another - among other problems - so what is needed is a way for the organization to communicate to members that the high demand season is very taxing on the organization overall so members will adjust demand for the benefit of all, that is, for the benefit of avoiding collapse of the organization.

Resting on his "Laureates"?

I spent 2 credits hoping it would be worth it. It was not. Many leaps of faith - especially claiming that WWII was a Keynesian stimulus. CCC and WPA were, but WWII? Also, suggests there is a simple solution to the problems of the day, but this Nobel Laureate doesn't tell us what it is. Let me try. Work hard, spend less, import less, export more. It's a global economy with global competition. Geez. He gets three because there is much worse out there, but definitely not what I expected.