The Boom and the Bubble: The Us in the World Economy Book

Only a handful of years ago, the world economy seemed poised on the edge of catastrophe, as financial firestorms ripped through East Asia, Russia and Latin America. A sustained period of significant growth in the US, however, seemed to save the day against all the odds. So impressive was the surface appearance of this rescue mission that all manner of commentators proclaimed—once again—that a 'new economy' or 'new paradigm' of unlimited and harmonious growth had been forged. Today, as recession looms, the babble about Internet start-ups is exposed as vapid. Yet the pundits are no nearer an understanding of how or why the boom turned into a bubble, or why the bubble has burst. In this crisp and far-sighted book, Robert Brenner demonstrates that the "New Economy" was always a fragile phenomenon that never broke free from fundamental problems continuing to afflict the global economy. Carefully dismantling the myths and hype that surround the US expansion, he shows that transcending economic stagnation in the near future is anything but a foregone conclusion.Read More