George Cooper

The Origin of Financial Crises

George Cooper

'The Origin of Financial Crises' provides a compelling analysis of the forces behind the recent economic crisis. In a series of disarmingly simple arguments George Cooper challenges the core principles of today's economic orthodoxy, explaining why financial markets do not obey the efficient market principles but are instead inherently unstable and habitually crisis prone.
First published in the summer of 2008 in the midst of the crisis, the author accurately pinpointed the fundamental problems in policy and economic theory that led to the banking crisis. Now updated to reflect the massive upheavals since then and providing even more forthright opinions, the book is essential reading for anyone looking to find the root cause of our current financial situation.
The book describes the evolution of our modern monetary system, explaining along the way how financial instability emerged and why this instability required the development of central banking. Cooper makes the point that misguided faith in the power of free markets has led some central banks to neglect their core role of managing the financial system and instead caused them to pursue policies promoting a series of ever more violent boom-bust cycles. 'The Origin of Financial Crises' calls for a radical shift in central bank strategy, the abandonment of inflation targeting and a paradigm shift in our attitude to economic policy.
The reader will also learn about the fundamentals of inflation and discover what policy makers can learn from the designers of the Eurofighter jet and how an obscure paper on steam engines, written in 1868, shows us how to avoid repeating recent monetary policy mistakes.
Uniquely, 'The Origin of Financial Crises' presents tangible policy proposals aimed at helping break out of the seemingly endless procession of damaging boom-bust cycles.

Fixing Economics

George Cooper

THE EXPANDED SECOND EDITION OF THE ACCLAIMED 'MONEY, BLOOD AND REVOLUTION'
Economics is a broken science, living in a kind of Alice in Wonderland state believing in multiple inconsistent things at the same time. Prior to the financial crisis, mainstream economics argued simultaneously for small government on taxation, regulation and spending, but big government on monetary policy. After the financial crisis, economics is now arguing for more government spending and for less government spending.
The premise of this book is that the internal inconsistencies between economic theories – the apparently unresolvable debates between leading economists and the incoherent policies of our governments – are symptomatic of economics being in a crisis. Specifically, in a scientific crisis.
The good news is that, thanks to the work of scientist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn, we know what needs to be done to fix a scientific crisis. Moreover, there are two scientists in particular whose ideas could show how to do this for economics: Charles Darwin, the man who discovered evolution, and William Harvey, doctor to King Charles I and the first person to understand blood flow and the workings of the human heart.
In Fixing Economics, bestselling financial writer George Cooper explains how the ideas of Darwin and Harvey could revolutionise economics, making it more scientific and understandable, and might even reveal the true origin of economic growth and inequality.
Taking readers on a gripping tour of scientific revolution, social upheaval and the secrets of money and debt, this is an unmissable read for anyone curious to understand how the world really works – and the amazing future of economics.