Reviews
"Greatly expanding upon and enriching prior work on political polarization, Political Bubbles persuasively shows that the 2008 financial crisis was the product of potent political forces." ---Philip Rocco, Public Administration, "As pundits debate the causes of the 2008 economic crisis, the authors contend that financial crises have inherently political dimensions. McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal argue persuasively that political bubbles and market bubbles are highly similar, with policy biases contributing to and amplifying market behavior. . . . The authors provide an exhaustive review of structural problems that they believe impede effective government response to new catastrophic economic developments. Their arguments transcend the academic to include historical precedents and specifics on Wall Street machinations." -- Publishers Weekly, "This extremely interesting book subtly argues that political bubbles are an important dimension of financial bubbles. Financial bubbles are caused by exuberant expectations and greed, but political bubbles are about how institutions channel ideology and interest into outcomes. The authors make clear how polarization produces gridlock and leads reformers to prefer regulation over legislation--with attendant problems." --James Alt, Harvard University, "This wise book offers an incisive evaluation of the politics of economic crisis. Persuasively insisting on the need for a new public philosophy, its elegant account at the juncture of political economy and policy analysis artfully connects conceptual argumentation about ideology, interests, and institutions to inventive and illuminating analyses of data." --Ira Katznelson, Columbia University, "McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal have crafted a masterful analysis of the 2008 financial crisis. Their central thesis is that the underlying cause of the Great Recession was the 'political bubble'. . . . The warnings for the U.S. political system are dire, and the authors make the case for political courage in dealing with wealth inequalities. This book would be an excellent addition to the library of any student of political economy and an excellent start in generating policy proposals on how to deal with future crises." -- Choice, As pundits debate the causes of the 2008 economic crisis, the authors contend that financial crises have inherently political dimensions. McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal argue persuasively that political bubbles and market bubbles are highly similar, with policy biases contributing to and amplifying market behavior. . . . The authors provide an exhaustive review of structural problems that they believe impede effective government response to new catastrophic economic developments. Their arguments transcend the academic to include historical precedents and specifics on Wall Street machinations., "If you thought that the financial crisis was just about finance and the alphabet soup of financial products, think again. With style and eloquence, McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal show it's all about politics--the Faustian bargains that our politicians have made, their ideological biases, and more. This is essential reading for understanding how we got into the current mess and how we are likely to get into many more unless we rethink our politics." --Daron Acemoglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and coauthor of Why Nations Fail, "This innovative and compelling book demonstrates how financial bubbles and political bubbles go hand in hand, producing periodic meltdowns that deeply affect the lives of ordinary citizens. Synthesizing political science with economics and finance, the book explains not only how the most recent financial crisis relates to previous episodes in American history, but also why responses to the crisis have fallen short of what many had hoped for in terms of fundamental reforms." --Gregory Wawro, Columbia University, Greatly expanding upon and enriching prior work on political polarization, Political Bubbles persuasively shows that the 2008 financial crisis was the product of potent political forces. ---Philip Rocco, Public Administration, McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal have crafted a masterful analysis of the 2008 financial crisis. Their central thesis is that the underlying cause of the Great Recession was the 'political bubble'. . . . The warnings for the U.S. political system are dire, and the authors make the case for political courage in dealing with wealth inequalities. This book would be an excellent addition to the library of any student of political economy and an excellent start in generating policy proposals on how to deal with future crises., "Greatly expanding upon and enriching prior work on political polarization, Political Bubbles persuasively shows that the 2008 financial crisis was the product of potent political forces." --Philip Rocco, Public Administration, "McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal are the most incisive analysts of America's political economy. In Political Bubbles , their penetrating gaze offers the clearest definitive political economic explanation for the recent financial crisis." --James Robinson, Harvard University and coauthor of Why Nations Fail
