A Failure of Capitalism

A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression
Cover of the hardcover edition
AuthorRichard Posner
LanguageEnglish
SubjectCritique of laissez-faire capitalism
PublisherHarvard University Press
Publication date
May 1, 2009
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint, e-book
Pages368 pp. (1st edition)
ISBN978-0674035140
Followed byThe Crisis of Capitalist Democracy 

A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression is a 2009 book by legal scholar Richard Posner. The text was initially published on May 1, 2009, by Harvard University Press. Posner criticizes President George W. Bush and his administration's policies and the response to the fiscal crisis,[1] and moves away from his past well-known advocacy of free-market capitalism.[2] The book has been primarily noted not for his criticism of progressive government policies, but rather his critique of laissez-faire capitalism and its ideologues.[3][4]

The book has been received with generally good reviews from the press, including The New York Times,[5] but the reception has not been universally positive.[6]

  1. ^ Posner, pp. 36-37, 113, 139-140, 190, 228-229, 238-239, 248, 271-280, 287, 293, 301, 304-306, 310-311.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Baram was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference economist was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barrett was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Rauch, Jonathan (May 17, 2009). "Capitalism's Fault Lines". The New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Solow was invoked but never defined (see the help page).