Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us - Softcover

Quiggin, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1863955690 ISBN 13: 9781863955690

Publisher: Black Inc., 2012

Synopsis

In the graveyard of economic ideology, dead ideas still stalk the land. The recent financial crisis laid bare many of the assumptions behind market liberalism - the theory that markets always know best, regardless of the problem. For decades, its advocates had dominated economics, helping to create an unthinking faith in markets, in which speculative investments were seen as fundamentally safe. The crisis seemed to kill off such ideas, but they still live on in the minds of many - members of the public, commentators, politicians, economists, and even those charged with cleaning up the mess. In Zombie Economics, John Quiggin explains how dead ideas still walk among us, in Australia and abroad - and why we must find a way to kill them once and for all if we are to avoid an even bigger crisis in the future. And because these ideas will never die unless there is an alternative, Zombie Economics also looks ahead at what could replace market liberalism, arguing that a simple return to Keynesian economics and the politics of the welfare state will not be enough - either to kill dead ideas, or to prevent future crises. This local edition includes a new chapter and preface on the Australian scene.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Killing vampires and werewolves is easy enough. But how does one slay economic zombies--ideas that should have died long ago but still shamble forward? Armed with nothing but the truth, John Quiggin sets about dispatching these dead ideas once and for all in this engaging book. Zombie Economics should be required reading for those who would dare reanimate the economic theories that brought us to the edge of ruin."--Brad DeLong, University of California, Berkeley

"Tempted to tangle with your libertarian uncle or your Wall Street Journal bromide-spouting coworkers? If so, this book will arm you to rebut the clever phrasemaking and slippery reasoning that has allowed dead constructs like 'trickle down economics' to soldier onward. Quiggin's clear, elegant dissection of wrongheaded notions will appeal to both lay readers and academic economists."--Yves Smith, author of ECONned: How Unenlightened Self-Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism

"Zombie Economics provides a unique and comprehensive discussion of the ideas that failed during the recent financial crisis. But the book contributes much more. Its discussion of how macroeconomics developed, and the ideology that has grown up around it, is every bit as important and interesting."--Mark Thoma, University of Oregon

"This is a terrific book. Quiggin is an engaging writer, and the combination of quotations, history, theory, and hard evidence makes the book quite a page-turner."--Andrew Leigh, Australian National University

About the Author

Authors Bio, not available

About this edition

• Publisher: Black Inc.
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1863955690
• ISBN 13: 9781863955690
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 278