Stablizing an Unstable Economy

'Mr. Minsky long argued markets were crisis prone. His 'moment' has arrived.' -The Wall Street JournalIn his seminal work, Minsky presents his groundbreaking financial theory of investment, one that is startlingly relevant today. He explains why the American economy has experienced periods of debilitating inflation, rising unemployment, and marked slowdowns-and why the economy is now undergoing a credit crisis that he foresaw.Stabilizing an Unstable Economy covers:The natural inclination of complex, capitalist economies toward instabilityBooms and busts as unavoidable results of high-risk lending practices'Speculative finance' and its effect on investment and asset pricesGovernment's role in bolstering consumption during times of high unemploymentThe need to increase Federal Reserve oversight of banksHenry Kaufman, president, Henry Kaufman & Company, Inc., places Minsky's prescient ideas in the context of today's financial markets and institutions in a fascinating new preface. Two of Minsky's colleagues, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Ph.D. and president, The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, and L. Randall Wray, Ph.D. and a senior scholar at the Institute, also weigh in on Mins