Getting It Wrong | William A. Barnett

Getting It Wrong: How Faulty Monetary Statistics Undermine the Fed, the Financial System, and the Economy

Extended Synopsis

Blame for the recent financial crisis and subsequent recession has commonly been assigned to Wall Street greed or the failure of mainstream economics. In Getting It Wrong, leading economist William A. Barnett argues a compelling alternative: the crisis was caused not by too much economics, but by corrupted monetary data constructed without reference to sound economic measurement. Barnett demonstrates that as financial instruments became increasingly complex, the simple-sum monetary aggregation formulas used by central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, became dangerously obsolete.

Without access to best-practice data, households, firms, and governments incorrectly assessed systemic risk and dangerously increased their leverage. Barnett argues that highly accurate, publicly available financial data could have signaled these misperceptions and prevented catastrophic decision-making. Highlighting the toxic mix of complex financial instruments, poor-quality data, and declining regulation, this volume pairs an accessible historical narrative with rigorous technical appendices to fully support its mathematical and macroeconomic conclusions.

Reader Targeting

• Economists and central bankers seeking a rigorous quantitative critique of monetary aggregation and systemic risk models.
• Students and academics specializing in macroeconomics, econometrics, and financial mathematics.
• Policy makers and regulators exploring the critical intersection of data quality, financial complexity, and market stability.

About the Author

William A. Barnett is a renowned economist celebrated for his pioneering work in monetary economics and econometrics. His rigorous mathematical analysis and development of the Divisia monetary aggregates have positioned him as a leading authority on macroeconomic data and central bank policy.

Accolades & Awards

Published by The MIT Press, Getting It Wrong is celebrated for its uncompromising academic rigor. It masterfully bridges the gap between an accessible policy narrative and deep quantitative analysis, offering a definitive perspective on how corrupted statistical reporting compromises global financial systems.

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