Yves Smith

Its organization falters in places, and while it gives a fair amount of intellectual history it expects you to understand a lot of finance jargon, but this is a fresh take on the economic collapse: Smith traces the roots all the way through the economics profession of the twentieth century, which she argues perverted Keynesian theories and ignored fundamental principles of risk in favor of ideology and models so stripped-down that they weren’t just useless but actively dangerous. Because pay was pegged to short-term gains, individuals had every incentive to loot the overall economy and their own institutions—and the terrible thing is that they still do. You can really get almost everything here by reading Smith’s blog Naked Capitalism, but if you want the most biting criticism of mainstream economic thinking this side of Nicholas Taleb, this book is a one-stop shop.… (altro)