The economist who predicted the collapse of the financial system as early as September 2006 proposes radical measures to address the crisis. A voice that must finally be heard.

Unlike most economic analysts, Roubini does not see economic disasters as unpredictable events that happen once in a lifetime without having a clear cause. Decades of careful research around the world have enabled him to realize that they are both possible and predictable.

Armed with an unconventional mix of historical analysis and global economics, Roubini forced politicians, policymakers, investors, and market observers to confront a long-forgotten truth: financial systems are inherently fragile and prone to collapse.

Drawing on evidence from similar phenomena in various countries and centuries, Roubini and Stephen Mihm, a professor of economic history and columnist for the New York Times, demonstrated that financial catastrophes are as old and ubiquitous as capitalism itself.

Only in the last two decades have we witnessed similar crises in countries as diverse as Mexico, Thailand, Brazil, Pakistan, and Argentina. All of these crises—to say nothing of more sweeping disasters such as the Great Depression—share much in common with today’s crisis.

By correlating lessons from previous crises with our current predicament, Roubini and Mihm show how we can identify and address the inherent instability of the global financial system, recognize pressure points, learn from past events of "irrational exuberance," trace the path of global disease transmission, and plan our immediate future.

Perhaps most importantly, the authors explain how the global economy can emerge from the chaos it finds itself in and remain out of it. In the shadow of Roubini, economists and investors are increasingly realizing that they no longer have the luxury of considering crises as "black swans" of financial history.

A crucial book of lasting value, The Economics of Crisis proves that disasters are not only predictable but also preventable and, with the right medicine, curable.