● From Financial Crisis to Global Recovery
By Padma Desai
Summary via publisher, Columbia University Press
Using the same presentation and detail that has earned her such wide-ranging acclaim for her previous books, Padma Desai explains in a course-friendly way the complexities of economic policy and financial reform. She merges a compelling narrative with scholarly research to teach and to engage the reader. Paul Krugman described Desai’s 2003 volume, Financial Crisis, Contagion, and Containment: From Asia to Argentina, as the “best book yet on financial crises.” Her most recent work on Russian reform was a “pick of 2006” by the Financial Times. Desai begins with a systematic breakdown of the factors leading to America’s recent recession, describing the monetary policy, tax practices, subprime mortgage scandals, and lax regulation that contributed to crisis. She discusses the Treasury-Fed rescue deals that saved several financial institutions and the involvement of Congress in passing restorative policies.

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