Examining the global cost of the worst economic crisis in nearly a century The year 2008 will always be remembered as one of the darkest, most tumultuous years the banking industry ever experienced. It was the year that the US financial system came to a total collapse, bringing down the world economy with it. In The Meltdown Years, Financial Times writer and renowned prognosticator Wolfgang Munchau gives an in-depth analysis of the true origins of the financial crisis of 2008, exploring its beginnings, its development, and the economy's future. Munchau looks into the new economic reality the crisis has created and predicts how monetary policy will unfold as a result. The author concludes that the economic crisis, however destructive, was also necessary, as it served as a much-needed passage to a new financial order.

Table of Contents

1. The Events To Date 2. The Credit Market - A Modern Weapon of Mass Destruction 3. Economic Policy 4. What Happens Next 5. What To Do Now 6. Caveat Emptor - Or What the Crisis Means for Private Investors Epilogue: When the Crisis is Over Appendix: A Few Lessons from History Glossary and List of Abbreviations Recommended Literature Remarks

About the Author

Wolfgang Munchau is an associate editor of the Financial Times, where he writes a weekly column about the European Union and the European economy. Between 1988 and 1995 he held several posts at The Times newspaper, including Washington and Brussels correspondent. Wolfgang Munchau lives in Belgium.