"This book directly confronts uncomfortable questions that many prefer to brush aside: if economists and other scholars, politicians, and business professionals understand the causes of economic crises, as they claim, then why do such damaging crises continue to occur? Can we trust business and intellectual elites who advocate the principles of Realpolitik and claim the "public good" as their priority, yet consistently favor maximization of profit...

Krugman pursues the questions of how bad the "Great Recession" really is, how we got stuck in what can now be called a depression and, above all, how we can free ourselves.

Presents cautionary predictions about American life in the aftermath of the recession that describes long-term consequences being faced by Americans from every walk of life.