Paul Krugman has been described as “most hated and most admired columnist in the U.S.” The Princeton University economics professor has a well-read New York Times blog and a robust Twitter feed with more than 800,000 followers. But his latest book, “End This Depression Now!,” is not remarkable for its economic point-of-view, but, rather, because Krugman argues that fixing the economy is not nearly as difficult and complicated as most people think.

Krugman makes the point that many of the books written about the financial meltdown either focus on how it happened, notably Andrew Ross Sorkin’s “Too Big to Fail” — or as I call it, “Too Long to Read” — and Michael Lewis’ “The Big Short,” or on how to avoid another meltdown in the future. (I recommend Les Leopold’s “The Looting of America” for a straightforward and thoughtful explanation of the causes of the financial meltdown.)

But there is hardly a mention of finance in “End This Depression Now!” Krugman’s focus is on fixing the problem, specifically reducing unemployment and accelerating economic growth.  Continue reading →