Author(s): Graham Turner

Current Affairs & Politics

In "The Credit Crunch", Graham Turner predicted that banks would be nationalised and interest rates would be reduced too slowly to halt the crisis. His predictions were correct. His new book, "No Way to Run an Economy", is the essential guide to the turbulent times ahead. Turner recommended radical measures, such as quantitative easing, in early 2008 but argues that action has been taken too late and been too timid to make a real difference. He dissects the policy mistakes of the last 12 months including Obama's doomed market-led response to the crisis and the obsession of central banks with the red herring of inflation. Turner also warns that the collapse of Eastern European economies will lead to political crisis in the ex-Soviet states that embraced neoliberalism and massive debt levels so fully. There is no doubt we are in a depression, but Turner shows that learning from the mistakes made so far can prevent a situation worse than that of the 1930s crisis.