This study exposes what many of us have probably suspected of once and a few economists have known for a long time: economic theory is not only difficult to digest, but is also simply wrong. When it was published in 2001, the market economy seemed invincible and "neoclassical" economic theory was in the limelight. Steve Keen argued then that economists deserved no credit for the apparent good running of finance, and that false confidence in the stability of the market economy had led many political actors to dismantle some institutions created to keep instability within certain limits. The instability was overflowing with the devastating financial crisis that erupted in 2007, and is now threatening the global economy with the prospect of another depression.

In this new, updated and considerably expanded edition, Keen takes his fierce critique of conventional economic theory even further, while explaining what the dominant economy is unable to explain: why the crisis ensued, why it is proving to be unapped, and what needs to be done to put an end to it.