After the Crash

“The Great Depression has not only caused economic tragedy throughout the globe but also paved the way to WWII. Now, it’s been more than a decade since the 2008 crisis. The big question is ‘what awaits us next?’ After the Crash provides a very accurate narrative of events and theories that led to the 2008 crisis. How did this crisis give birth to digital technologies such as blockchain and sharing economy among others? How did it make our world vulnerable to increased polarization and authoritarianism? Erdem is a scholar trained both in economics and physics, who has years of experience in both the financial and scholarly worlds. Combined with his powerful storytelling, his book is a must read for anyone who wants to gain insight on ‘what awaits us next’ in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis!” — Burak Can, Assistant Professor of Data Analytics and Digitalisation, Maastricht University

This book seeks to diagnose and analyze the social, economic and technological consequences of the 2008 financial crisis, which brought epochal changes to our lives. First and foremost, a paradigm shift arose in economic theories that fail to predict or explain the crisis. On the governmental side, we have been observing a natural parallel between authoritarianism and the way many democratic countries are being governed. Liberalism seems to have failed. Driven by the anger over the crisis and its heavy burden, a variety of technological innovations were birthed and gained momentum. Bitcoin was a manifesto to the monetary system; sharing economy was a rebellion to the consumerist lifestyle; and subscriptions were a threat to ownership. This books ties each of these events to the 2008 crisis and explains the connection.

Orhan Erdem is Assistant Professor of Finance at Puri School of Business at Rockford University, USA. Previously, he worked at the Istanbul Stock Exchange (Borsa Istanbul). He has a PhD in Economics from Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain. Principal areas of his research include behavioral finance and financial decision making.