"A lucid explanation of how economies work, grow, get into trouble, and--one hopes--get out of it Krugman accomplishes this with effortless grace and style."

--BusinessWeek

"Masterful at presenting complex ideas in simple and sometimes whimsical parables and analogies, Krugman makes serious analysis fun to read."

--Foreign Affairs

SURELY the Great Deoression could never happen again. Or could it? Over the course of the last two years, six Asian economies have experienced an economic slump that bears an eerie resemblance to the Great Depression. Russia defaulted on its debt in 1998--an event that, halfway around the world, drove Brazilian interest rates through the roof and terrified the U.S. bond market. At Long-Term Capital Management, some of the brightest financiers in the world found themselves in a jam that had all the makings of the overleveraged positions that caused the 1929 stock market crash. Such events--and the significant questions they raise for policy makers--are the topics of this lively, informative book.

Introduction to the Paperback Edition

Introduction

one

July 1, 1997

two

A Short Course in Miracles: Asia before the Crisis

three

Warning Ignored: Latin America, 1995

four

The Future That Didn’t Work: Japan in the 1990s

five

All Fall Down: Asia’s Crash

six

The Confidence Game

seven

Masters of the Universe: Hedge Funds and Other Villains

eight

Bottoming Out?

nine

The Return of Depression Economics

Index