Anatomy of the Crash

Book excerpt: The Great Crash of 2020 was not caused by a virus. It was precipitated by the virus, and made worse by the crazed decision of governments around the world to shut down business and travel. But it was caused by economic fragility. The purpose of this collection is to highlight the important work of contemporary Austrian economists on the modern financial system. Although the mainstream financial press has been crediting American, European, and Chinese policymakers with upholding the global economy in the aftermath of 2008, Austrians have long been warning that these very same actions have only set the world up for a larger disaster. Promises in 2008 of the ease of normalizing monetary policy—such as by reducing balance sheets and phasing out market intervention—have been proven to be lies, just as Austrians warned. Authors Include: Ryan McMaken, Daniel Lacalle, Brendan Brown, Thorsten Polleit, Alasdair Macleod, Philipp Bagus, Ronald-Peter Stöferle, Mark J. Valek, Arkadiusz Sieroń, Ronald-Peter Stöferle, Jeff Deist, Joseph T. Salerno, and Claudio Grass.