Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism

The "Animal Spirits" in mankind cause things to happen differently than if they were behaving purely rationally. The authors advocate for a neo-Keynesian approach to the economy with more emphasis on government intervention. This was written around the time of the great recession of 2009, so this seemed to make sense. The book also gives examples of the problems with focussing too much on one mandate (such as keeping inflation under control) at the expense of growing the economy. Alas, today we have seen that forgetting about inflation can have a deleterious effect. The low interest rates and government programs have contributed to excessive inflation, while companies are having trouble filling jobs. The solution to the last problem is not the solution to the current one.