Biographical note: BarroRobert: Robert J. Barro is Professor of Economics, Harvard University, and has written widely on macroeconomic and monetary economics. He is the author of Macroeconomics and the editor of Modern Business Cycle Theory.

In this short book, Robert Barro, one of the world's leading economists, examines the causes and consequences of the financial crash. In particular, he looks at the effects of fiscal stimulus packages and suggests that, whilst they may lead to an immediate positive impact on growth, the effect...