Lost Decades
The Making of America's Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery
Published on 4. October 2011
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-393-07650-9 (ISBN)
Description
Welcome to Argentina: by 2008 the United States had become the biggest international borrower in world history, with almost half of its 6.4 trillion dollar federal debt in foreign hands. The proportion of foreign loans to the size of the economy put the United States in league with Mexico, Pakistan, and other third-world debtor nations. The massive inflow of foreign funds financed the booms in housing prices and consumer spending that fueled the economy until the collapse of late 2008.
The authors explore the political and economic roots of this crisis as well as its long-term effects. They explain the political strategies behind the Bush administration's policy of funding massive deficits with the foreign borrowing that fed the crisis. They see the continuing impact of our huge debt in a slow recovery ahead. Their clear, insightful, and comprehensive account will long be regarded as the standard on the crisis.
The authors explore the political and economic roots of this crisis as well as its long-term effects. They explain the political strategies behind the Bush administration's policy of funding massive deficits with the foreign borrowing that fed the crisis. They see the continuing impact of our huge debt in a slow recovery ahead. Their clear, insightful, and comprehensive account will long be regarded as the standard on the crisis.
Reviews / Votes
"Through pointed historical and comparative illustration, the authors show how financiers, politicians, and ideologues ushered in the crisis, and highlight the challenges we must overcome to avoid another lost decade." -- Nouriel Roubini, Stern School of Business, NYU "An integrated and compelling account of where our debts came from - and why they won't go away any time soon. Chinn and Frieden combine the smartest kind of economics with the toughest kind of political science. Read this book for a somewhat disheartening but completely enlightening education - and then send 10 copies to the White House and Capitol Hill." -- Simon Johnson, MIT, co-author of 13 Bankers "This wonderful book by two leading political economists identifies the roots of the recent financial crisis and the deep recession that followed, but more important, tells us what awaits us if we do not fix the underlying problems. It is political economy as it was meant to be - accessible and concise, even while deeply troubling." -- Raghuram G. Rajan, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago "You will not read a better political-economic synthesis of America's financial crisis than this book." -- Dani Rodrik, author of The Globalization Paradox "An intelligent, vivid, and accessible account of the first great crisis of the 21st century. Drawing on comparisons that will bother recalcitrant believers in American economic exceptionalism, the authors depict a gloomy panorama for the years to come unless policy makers get serious about fiscal reform. This is a must-read for the expert and the layman alike." -- Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization Former President of MexicoMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 165 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
480 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-393-07650-9 (9780393076509)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2011
W. W. Norton & Company
€22.49
Available for download
Persons
Menzie D. Chinn teaches at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and coauthors the influential blog Econbrowser. Jeffry Frieden is Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science at Columbia University and Professor of Government emeritus at Harvard University. He specializes in the politics of international economic relations. Frieden is the author of Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century (2007; second updated edition 2020); of Currency Politics: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Policy (2015); and the co-author (with Menzie Chinn) of Lost Decades: The Making of America's Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery (2012). Frieden is also the author of Debt, Development, and Democracy: Modern Political Economy and Latin America, 1965-1985 (1992), of Banking on the World: The Politics of American International Finance (1987), and the co-author or co-editor of over a dozen other books on related topics. His articles on the politics of international economic issues have appeared in a wide variety of scholarly and general-interest publications.