Last week I posted a blurb that pointed to a New Yorker article by finance writer John Cassidy on how members of The Chicago School think of the financial meltdown. For some perspective on how a writer views economics and finance, you might check out his new book: How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities. (Let me know what you think). One of the giants of the economics profession, Robert Solow reviews it here on The New Republic‘s new book site.
As I suggested before, Cassidy seems a bit antagonistic to the pro-market guys at Chicago (e.g., Fama and Cochrane) and Professor Solow suggests that we get a similar white hat, black hat story here. Even so, the take home point seems to be this:
John Cassidy’s book should confer on a thoughtful reader a lasting immunity to erroneous free-market sloganeering, whether simpleminded or devious, while still conveying some feeling for what a well-functioning market system can actually do. Both ideas are important.