Hall of mirrors : the Great Depression, the great recession, and the uses--and misuses--of history / Barry Eichengreen.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Part I: The best of times -- New age economics -- Golden globe -- Competing on a violent scale -- By legislation or fiat -- Where credit is due -- Castles in Spain -- Part II: The worst of times -- Spent bullets -- The next leg down --On Europe's shores -- Will America topple too? -- Largely contained -- Scant evidence -- The spiral -- Fish or foul -- Part III: Toward better times -- Revival or reform -- Something for everyone -- Takahashi's revenge -- Dip again -- Preventing the worst -- Stressed and stimulated -- Unconventional policy -- Part IV: Avoiding the next time -- Wall Street and Main Street -- Normalization in an abnormal economy -- Making things as difficult as possible -- Men in black -- Euro or not -- Conclusion.

"A brilliantly conceived dual-track account of the two greatest economic crises of the last century and their consequences"--

"The Great Depression and the Great Recession are the two great economic crises of the past hundred years. While there are accounts of both episodes, no one has yet attempted a sustained comparative analysis. In Hall of Mirrors, Barry Eichengreen draws on his unparalleled expertise for a brilliantly conceived dual-track account of the two crises and their consequences. Rather than telling the stories of the two crises in sequence, instead he weaves them together. He describes the two bubble-fuelled build-ups, then the onset of crisis, the subsequent financial and economic and collapse, the policy response, and finally the recovery." --