In this analysis of the causes, consequences, and possible solutions to the severe economic crisis of the first decade of the 2000s, MacEwan (emeritus, economics, U. of Massachusetts) and
Miller (economics, Wheaton College) depart from mainstream interpretations in order to highlight how issues of inequality, power, and ideology have contributed to the current crisis. Any
solutions, they argue, must come from changes in income and wealth distribution, in who has power in society, and in the ideology of how the economy operates. They describe how the rise of
conservative forces beginning in the 1970s led to greater concentrations of wealth and power amongst a small elite and an anti-government, "free market" ideology that led to dangerous
deregulation, particularly in finance, both of which contributed to an excessive expansion of debt that helped trigger the crisis. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
