Barry Eichengreen, Hall of mirrors: The great depression, the great recession, and the uses-and misuses-of history: New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2015. xi+520 Pages. $29.95 (hardback)

Abstract

Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, The Great Recession, and the Uses-and Misuses-of History by Barry Eichengreen is reviewed. Eichengreen structures his study in four parts. In the first and second he compares the booms (the Roaring Twenties and the post 9/11 era) and the busts (the Great Contraction and the 200708 financial difficulties). In the third and fourth he looks at the rest of the Great Depression in the 1930s and the meager recovery following the most recent downturn, and whether or not policymakers have learned from their past mistakes. Eichengreen's book is not only readable from a layman's perspective but also provides a multitude of information and sources that can be digested and interpreted by an academic.