8.6 /10 1 Votes
4.5/5 Barnes & Noble Language English Publication date 2009 Originally published 2009 Genre Non-fiction | 4/5 Goodreads Country United States Subject Economic theory Pages 400 pp. Publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback & paperback) Nominations Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction Similar Non-fiction books, Economics books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities (2009) is a book by economist and journalist John Cassidy. The book was published in the US by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Contents
How markets fail the logic of economic calamities
Overview
The book examines the history of economic theory and attempts to diagnose the recent rise and fall of markets, particularly the housing bubble and credit crisis (2007–2009).
How Markets Fail argues against unfettered free-market ideology and supports government regulation in the financial industry.
Reception
Kirkus, giving it a starred review, remarked, "Cassidy delivers on the promise of his title, but he also offers a clear-eyed look at economic thinking over the last three centuries, from Adam Smith to Ben Bernanke, and shows how the major theories have played out in practice, often not well."
The Economist praised the book, noting that its critique of "free market idolatry" was, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, "firmly in the mainstream".
The Financial Times review by Gillian Tett likewise praised the book as "compelling and persuasive", praising the book's criticism of government's excessive trust in free market principles, and its account of how the "modern economics profession" had "lost its way".