Irving Fisher had it all figured out in real time. His investment advice was famously ill-timed, but he redeemed himself in macro. As the Great Depression was unfolding, he identified the disease and the cure. That’s old news, but it’s debatable if it’s widely understood. But it can be, and for free. The St. Louis Fed has generously re-published several of Irving Fisher’s books, including 1932’s Booms and Depressions: Some First Principles. Among dead economists with relevant advice in the here and now, this dismal scientist is the first among equals. The details of our current troubles are different, and the disinflation/deflationary winds are comparably mild by the standards of the early 1930s. But it’s hard not to recognize the parallels across time. History doesn’t repeat, but it does seem to rhyme at times. The same might be said of the recommended cures. There’s nothing new under the sun, even if we’re told otherwise. Maybe we didn’t see it coming, but it still looks rather familiar in hindsight. Judge for yourself with a few excerpts from Booms and Depressions… and then read the book.