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Zombie Economics
Book

Zombie Economics

How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us

Princeton UP, 2010 plus...


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Innovative
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Like a horror movie villain, discredited economic theories can return to haunt you. Australian economist John Quiggin claims that some of these ideas – like total privatization, perfectly rational markets and trickle-down policies – nearly destroyed the world’s economy and are attempting a comeback. To drive the final stake through the brain-eating, dead soul of “zombie economics,” he knifes through five dangerous principles of “market liberalism.” With no apparent fear of controversy, he explains why each “zombie idea” failed and describes a new, alternative approach, melding  free-market capitalism with judicious use of government involvement to address crucial social needs. Quiggin heavily annotates his work, and though economic jargon can, at times, slow your progress, he rewards your persistence. This eerie tour through defunct yet durable economic theories will intrigue anyone who enjoys a good scare. Find your silver bullets, construct your booby traps and carry your axes for good measure: Quiggin says the time has come to kill those zombies once and for all.

Take-Aways

  • Economic theories continue to live as “zombie ideas” even after events refute them.
  • The 2008 “Global Financial Crisis” exposed the fallacy of five hard-to-kill principles that fueled “market liberalism”:
  • First, beginning in the 1990s, “the Great Moderation” claimed business cycles had stilled.

About the Author

John Quiggin is an economics professor at the University of Queensland in Australia.


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    A. 1 decade ago
    Dear Mr. Holzgen,

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      1 decade ago
      i know it was just bad luck - you guys have alot of good stuff.
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      1 decade ago
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