This book examines the array of financial crises, slumps, depressions and recessions that happened around the globe during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It covers events including World War I, hyperinflation and market crashes in the 1920s, the Great Depression of the 1930s, stagflation of the 1970s, the Latin American debt crises of the 1980s, the post-socialist transitions in Central Eastern Europe and Russia in the 1990s, and the great financial crisis of 2008–9. In addition to providing wide geographic and historical coverage of episodes of crisis in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia, the book clarifies basic concepts in the area of recession economics, analysis of high inflation, debt crises, political cycles and international political economy. An understanding of these concepts is needed to comprehend big recessions and slumps that often lead to both political change and the reassessment of prevailing economic paradigms.

'The twentieth century saw plenty of booms and busts, and the early twenty-first century saw a financial crash - threatening a repeat of the 1930s depression. Andrés Solimano provides the reader with an authoritative guide to these busts, crashes and depressions. This book is not only a history of capitalism, but also a warning that the next calamity is just around the corner.'

Tony Addison - United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research

'Fully conversant with changing economic and monetary theories and associated policy interventions, Solimano deploys a wealth of macroeconomic financial data to drive home one enduring feature, namely, the instability of capitalism. His book is economic history at its best, something the economics curriculum of today could hugely benefit from.'

Anthony D’Costa - University of Alabama, Huntsville

'This masterful guided-tour of the economic downturns in recent history is both spectacularly rich and absolutely indispensable. Solimano begs the question: when shall we learn from our mistakes?'

Dimitry Kochenov - University of Groningen

'The statistics collected by Solimano in this book are a gold mine for economists. He goes beyond simple lack-of-demand analyses and points out limitations of Keynesian stabilization policy as important, and at times useful, could not be a miracle cure for recessions.'

Vito Tanzi - author of Termites of the State