First we had the paradox of thrift. Now Scott Sumner brings us the Midas paradox. In this book, Sumner reopens the discussion of the Great Depression—why it occurred and why it lasted so long. The book is the culmination of 30 years of work and it draws on previously unpublished data to give us a fresh look at the most important economic event in the history of the American Republic. Economists who read it won’t be disappointed.