The monograph under review is one of many attempts to demystify the recent crisis. The author offers an explanation of the incipient causes of the financial crisis and outlines the sequence of events that flicked the first domino so to speak. The stated purpose of the book is to generate an informed ‘working class’ opinion on the crisis, the response of the US government and other national governments. The series, edited by Pratyush Chandra, Pothik Ghosh, Ravi Kumar and Saswat Pattnaik, claims to be a collection of voices with a special focus on South Asia. Nor for that matter does the author mention the other crises that have afflicted many countries in the region since the Great Depression. In fact the author limits his entire analysis strictly to the US financial market. One can’t help but wonder if it is possible to understand this crisis while blind patching the global economy.
Would theworking class in the rest of the world not want to know why they got caught in this imbroglio before they could form an opinion? Also, since the author urges the readers to throw their weight behind fiscal measures taken by governments in the region it would have helped to have an analysis of the acts of commission and omission of government bodies in past crises.