A Failure of Capitalism

A Failure of Capitalism

This blawg, hosted by The Atlantic, is the means by which 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner intends to update his book A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression. He writes: "My tentative menu of subsequent entries is (1) adding some depth to my discussion of certain economic issues, and suggesting some additional readings; (2) discussing current plans and proposals for changing the regulation of banking and finance; (3) revisiting the issue of who is to blame for the crisis, (4) responding to critics, and (5) discussing the role of law and law schools in helping the economy to recover. After that—we'll see."

Author: Richard Posner is a judge on the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. He teaches part time at the University of Chicago Law School and has written 30 books, most recently A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression, How Judges Think, The Little Book of Plagiarism and Economic Analysis of Law. He also co-authors The Becker-Posner Blog.

Blawg Related Categories: Administrative Law • Banking Law • Financial Crisis • University of Chicago • Judge • Law Professor • Legal News Publication • Economics

Recent Posts from A Failure of Capitalism


  • Break Up the Big Banks?

    Paul Volcker has suggested, as has Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England (the U.K.'s version of the Federal Reserve), along the lines of the Public Utilities Holding Company Act or the Glass-Steagall…

  • The Goldman Sachs Bonuses: II

    Here are two questions about the bonuses that I did not discuss in my blog yesterday: 1. Could the bonuses be compensating for the risks of a career in finance? 2. Shouldn't Goldman want to…

  • The Goldman Sachs Bonuses

    I have been terribly neglectful of my blogging duties! I haven't blogged for almost a month. Judicial work, some travel, and work on a new book -- a follow-up to A Failure of Capitalism --…

  • The Psychology of Stimulus

    Anyone who still thinks that stimulus expenditures in the second quarter of this year increased GDP or employment would do well to read John F. Cogan, John B. Taylor, and Volker Wieland, "The Stimulus Didn't…

  • Financial Regulatory Reform: The Politics of Denial

    Two bad recent signs concerning the movement to reform financial regulation: The first is the first public meeting of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, created by Congress four months ago to investigate the causes of…

  • The Politics of Taking Credit

    One can imagine, though with difficulty, an Administration spokesman explaining the nation's recent economic history as follows: "Because of serious errors of monetary policy, excessive deregulation of the banking industry, a belief there would never…

  • The Politics and the Economics of Stimulus

    My lefty critics don't believe me when I say I support the stimulus. But I do, and I advocated it in my book A Failure of Capitalism, completed before the stimulus was enacted. I am…

  • Christina Romer's "More Than $100 Billion" Mistake

    Christina Romer, in her speech that I have been blogging critically about, said that the government had by the end of the second quarter of this year (June 30) "spent" more than $100 billion in stimulus…

  • The Impact of the Stimulus and the Issue of Integrity

    My two blog entries (August 18 and 19) about Christina Romer's August 6 speech on the stimulus package have drawn an unusual amount of commentary, including criticisms (some by seemingly reputable economists) that are at…

  • Christina Romer Defended by an Angry Academic Colleague

    The macroeconomist J. Bradford DeLong (about whom I blogged on June 10) has written an angry criticism of my criticism ("Honesty about the Stimulus," posted yesterday) of Christina Romer's defense of the $787 stimulus package that Congress…