This Time Is Different | Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff

This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly

by Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff

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The Myth of "New Rules" in Finance

Throughout history, rich and poor countries alike have been lending, borrowing, crashing, and recovering their way through an extraordinary range of financial crises. Each time, experts have chimed, "this time is different," claiming that the old rules of valuation no longer apply. In this comprehensive study, leading economists Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff definitively prove them wrong.

Covering sixty-six countries across five continents, This Time Is Different guides readers through eight astonishing centuries of government defaults, banking panics, and inflationary spikes. The authors track financial missteps from medieval currency debasements to the modern subprime catastrophe. Using clear, sharp analysis and comprehensive data, Reinhart and Rogoff document that financial fallouts occur in clusters and strike with surprisingly consistent frequency, duration, and ferocity.

Historical Lessons for Modern Investors

This book examines the patterns of currency crashes, hyperinflation, and government defaults on international and domestic debts. It also tracks cycles in housing, equity prices, capital flows, unemployment, and government revenues around these crises. While countries do weather their financial storms, the authors prove that short memories make it all too easy for crises to recur. It is an indispensable read that exposes centuries of financial missteps and reshapes modern policy discussions.

Who Readers Will Love This

• Economic & Finance Students: Provides an unmatched compilation of historical data regarding sovereign defaults and banking crises.
• Wealth Wisdom Readers: Essential context for investors who want to separate cyclical market panic from structural paradigm shifts.
• Policy Makers & Analysts: A sobering reminder of historical patterns in debt, inflation, and market recoveries.

Product Information

ISBN-13:	9780691152646
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Format:	Paperback (Reprint)
Publication Date:	2011-08-07
Subject:	Business & Economics / Economic History / Finance