End This Depression Now!

by Paul Krugman Narrated by Rob Shapiro, Paul Krugman

Overview

The Great Recession that began in 2007 is now more than four years old-and counting. Some 24 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed, and at recent rates of job creation we won't be back to normal levels of employment until late this decade. This is a tragedy. Do we have to accept it?

“No!” is the resounding answer given by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman in this call to arms. We have seen this situation before and we know how to fix it; all we lack is the political will to take action.**

Krugman walks us through the financial crisis that triggered the greatest downturn since the Great Depression and outlines the efforts that have been made thus far. The way forward is clear. Our priority must be to get ourselves back on the path to growth; every day that we lag behind normal production levels only adds to the astronomical economic loss of this depression. What we need for a rapid, powerful recovery is precisely what we've needed in crises past-a burst of government spending to jump-start the economy. We owe it not only to the unemployed, but to everyone affected by this tragedy to end this depression now.

Includes a bonus PDF of charts from the book

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Audio

Krugman—winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics—builds a strong case for federal stimulus spending as the only path to ending our current economic woes, and claims that austerity policies lead to economic contraction and worsening unemployment. Rob Shapiro skillfully narrates this audio edition—not an easy task given the somewhat dry nature of the prose—in a richly textured voice that brings just the right amount of gravitas and accessibility to this wonky manifesto. Shapiro’s tone is conversational; he modifies his pitch for emphasis and adopts a carefully measured pace—a blessing when numbers, percentages, and statistics come fast and furious. Unfortunately, economics books (including this one) often make use of charts and graphs, and while PDFs of the book’s 12 charts are included, this isn’t likely to help those listening in the car or on the treadmill. Still, Shapiro provides an engaging performance of this timely and important book from Krugman, who narrates the introduction. A Norton hardcover. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Krugman (Fuzzy Math), winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, takes an edifying and often humorous journalistic approach to the current economic crisis in this accessible and timely study. Rather than provide a mere postmortem on the 2008 collapse (though relevant history lessons are provided), Krugman aims to plot a path out of this depression. He maintains that "We are suffering from a severe overall lack of demand;" as every purchase is also a sale, everyone's income is someone's spending , and few are currently spending. This "paradox of thrift," when everyone cuts back and tries to pay off old debt at the same time, ensures a stagnant economy—when no new debt is issued, the cycle continues, for one man's debt is another man's asset. Krugman suggests, then, that "the government spend where the private sector won't," à la FDR's workers' programs during the Great Depression. The problem, of course, arises when politics enters the equation—some view government intervention as a gateway to socialism, whereas others can't agree on appropriate "shovel-ready" projects to spend money on. Krugman has consistently called for more liberal economic policies, but his wit and bipartisanship ensure that this book will appeal to a broad swath of readers—from the Left to the Right, from the 99% to the 1%. Illus. (Apr.)

Dissent

"Paul Krugman is stepping up to play the kind of role that John Maynard Keynes performed in the 1930s."

Financial Times

"A thoroughly persuasive polemic against premature fiscal austerity in the wake of a deep recession."

Rolling Stone

"[Krugman] makes an urgent, even passionate case that our economic problems are, at root, fairly simple, and we have the knowledge and the tools to solve them."

AUGUST 2012 - AudioFile

In this follow-up to THE RETURN OF DEPRESSION ECONOMICS, Nobel Prize-winning economist and Princeton professor Krugman delivers his introduction before handing over the reins to Rob Shapiro. As Krugman describes the recession of 2008 and charts a path to end the recession, Shapiro uses an even pace and steadily builds the narration to Krugman's conclusions about supply, demand, and increased spending. For the aspects of the discussion that require a more visual approach, there are references to the accompanying charts and graphs. Even though the subject matter can be dense, Shapiro presents Krugman’s argument in a straightforward and understandable way, reading with inflection and emphasis, and slowing down to allow listeners to digest the more technical aspects of the discussion. E.N. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

Krugman (Economics/Princeton Univ.; The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008, 2008, etc.) delivers an urgent message on ending the economic crisis. Despite apparent financial stabilization and indications of improvement, writes the Nobel laureate, the conditions of peoples' lives have not changed. "You can't have prosperity without a functioning financial system," he writes, "but stabilizing the financial system doesn't necessarily yield prosperity." The country needs strong leadership to build support for stimulus policies--e.g., large-scale job creation, debt relief and the reversal of current austerities--on a more expansive scale, rather than just accepting compromises. The author takes issue with three main objections: that government spending programs don't work, that increasing deficits undermine business confidence and that there aren't enough quality projects in which to invest. Given that the private sector is not investing enough to provide the needed increase in demand, government spending must be a significant part of the solution. Krugman also examines how the economic profession has lost its way over the last 30 years. For him, the current problems were effectively addressed during the 1930s by Keynes and others; the author doesn't have much patience with opponents or critics, considering them as representing political or ideological, not economic, views. He references ongoing research by a new generation of economists into how government intervention worked to end depressions in the past. An important contribution to the current study of economics and a reason for hope that effective solutions will be implemented again.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169179804
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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