Book review

This is a book review of  Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy by Joseph E. Stiglitz.

Editor’s Note: I received this book  from LibraryThing‘s Early Reviewers program.

Having won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001, Joseph Stiglitz is, obviously, authoritative on the subject of economics. In the book, Stiglitz explains the causes of the 2008 economic crash and what we must do in order to prevent it from occurring again. He is one of a few economists who predicted this would happen, but was ignored.

In Freefall,  Stiglitz makes the case for regulation, the balance between government control and private-sector control. It was politically- motivated de-regulation that led to the near-destruction of the economy. Stiglitz also address the inequalities in the global economy and how to fix them.

Economics can be hard to comprehend, but Stiglitz writes in a clear, detailed manner that makes economics sound like 2 +2=4. On top of that, the book is well-researched.  I recommend Freefall to everybody who lived through the 2008 economic collapse.