Book of the week: Crisis Economics by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm

(Penguin Press, $27.95)

In 2006, when New York University economist Nouriel Roubini warned that a U.S. housing bust would create a “fiscal tsunami” with global repercussions, he was nicknamed “Dr. Doom,” said Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times. In Crisis Economics, the “much-celebrated prophet” and his co-author offer a “succinct, lucid, and compelling account” of the causes and repercussions of the 2008 financial crisis. It’s “essential reading,” even if Roubini sings his own praises too often. Once ridiculed, Roubini is now so popular he’s “even considered something of a heartthrob,” said Gillian Tett in the Financial Times. Yet this book isn’t as “racy and melodramatic” as his public statements. Instead, it’s full of sober analysis and prescriptions for avoiding another fiscal disaster. A few years ago his opinions “might have sounded radical”; that they now seem “almost mainstream” shows how bad things have gotten.

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