"Mr. Minsky long argued markets were crisis prone. His 'moment' has
arrived." -The Wall Street Journal
In 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
instability
- Booms and busts as unavoidable results of high-risk lending practices
- "Speculative finance" and its effect on investment and asset prices
- Government's role in bolstering consumption during times of high
unemployment
- The need to increase Federal Reserve oversight of banks
Henry 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 Minsky's present relevance in
today's economic scene in a new introduction.
A surge of interest in and respect for Hyman Minsky's ideas pervades
Wall Street, as top economic thinkers and financial writers have started
using the phrase "Minsky moment" to describe America's turbulent
economy. There has never been a more appropriate time to read this
classic of economic theory.
