The Midas Paradox : Financial Markets, Government Policy Shocks, and the Great Depression

Economic Historians Have Made Great Progress In Unraveling The Causes Of The Great Depression, But Not Until Scott Sumner Came Along Has Anyone Explained The Multitude Of Twists And Turns The Economy Took. In The Midas Paradox: Financial Markets, Government Policy Shocks, And The Great Depression, Sumner Offers His Magnum Opus The First Book To Comprehensively Explain Both Monetary And Non-monetary Causes Of That Cataclysm. Drawing On Financial Market Data And Contemporaneous News Stories, Sumner Shows That The Great Depression Is Ultimately A Story Of Incredibly Bad Policymaking By Central Bankers, Legislators, And Two Presidents Especially Mistakes Related To Monetary Policy And Wage Rates. He Also Shows That Macroeconomic Thought Has Long Been Captive To A False Narrative That Continues To Misguide Policymakers In Their Quixotic Quest To Promote Robust And Sustainable Economic Growth. The Midas Paradox Is A Landmark Treatise That Solves Mysteries That Have Long Perplexed Economic Historians, And Corrects Misconceptions About The True Causes, Consequences, And Cures Of Macroeconomic Instability. Like Milton Friedman And Anna J. Schwartz's A Monetary History Of The United States, 1867–1960, It Is One Of Those Rare Books Destined To Shape All Future Research On The Subject. -- Introduction -- From The Wall Street Crash To The First Banking Panic -- The German Crisis Of 1931 -- The Liquidity Trap Of 1932 -- A Foolproof Plan For Reflation -- The Nira And The Hidden Depression -- The Rubber Dollar -- The Demise Of The Gold Bloc -- The Gold Panic Of 1937 -- The Midas Curse And The Roosevelt Depression -- The Impact Of The Depression On Twentieth-century Macroeconomics -- Theoretical Issues In Modeling The Great Depression. Scott Sumner. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 469-484) And Index. Economic historians have made great progress in unraveling the causes of the Great Depression, but not until Scott Sumner came along has anyone explained the multitude of twists and turns the economy took. In The Midas Paradox: Financial Markets, Government Policy Shocks, and the Great Depression, Sumner offers his magnum opus the first book to comprehensively explain both monetary and non-monetary causes of that cataclysm. Drawing on financial market data and contemporaneous news stories, Sumner shows that the Great Depression is ultimately a story of incredibly bad policymaking by central bankers, legislators, and two presidents especially mistakes related to monetary policy and wage rates. He also shows that macroeconomic thought has long been captive to a false narrative that continues to misguide policymakers in their quixotic quest to promote robust and sustainable economic growth. The Midas Paradox is a landmark treatise that solves mysteries that have long perplexed economic historians, and corrects misconceptions about the true causes, consequences, and cures of macroeconomic instability. Like Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz's A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, it is one of those rare books destined to shape all future research on the subject. -- provided by publisher Economic historians have made great progress in unraveling the causes of the Great Depression, but not until Scott Sumner came along has anyone explained the multitude of twists and turns the economy took. In __The Midas Paradox: Financial Markets, Government Policy Shocks, and the Great Depression__, Sumner offers his magnum opus—the first book to comprehensively explain both monetary and non-monetary causes of that cataclysm. Drawing on financial market data and contemporaneous news stories, Sumner shows that the Great Depression is ultimately a story of incredibly bad policymaking—by central bankers, legislators, and two presidents—especially mistakes related to monetary policy and wage rates. He also shows that macroeconomic thought has long been captive to a false narrative that continues to misguide policymakers in their quixotic quest to promote robust and sustainable economic growth. __The Midas Paradox__ is a landmark treatise that solves mysteries that have long perplexed economic historians, and corrects misconceptions about the true causes, consequences, and cures of macroeconomic instability. Like Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz’s __A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960__, it is one of those rare books destined to shape all future research on the subject.