Shutdown
The shocks of 2020 have been great and small, disrupting the world economy, international relations, and the daily lives of virtually everyone on the planet. Never before has the entire world economy contracted by 20% in a matter of weeks nor in the historic record of modern capitalism has there been a moment in which 95% of the world's economies were suffering all at the same time. Deftly weaving finance, politics, business, and the global human experience into one tight narrative, Shutdown is a tour-de-force account of 2020, the year that changed everything.
Praise for Shutdown
"A comprehensive history of an unprecedented year, Tooze’s account describes how the pandemic played out politically across the globe, the interplay between climate change and the pandemic, and the myriad effects of the world economy nearly shutting down in a brief period that, as Tooze puts it, made “history with a capital ‘H.’” Readers will find this deeply informed parsing of the pandemic to be illuminating and thought-provoking."
— Publishers Weekly
"Economic historian Tooze examines the unprecedented decision of governments around the world to shutter their economies in the face of a pandemic. As the pandemic hopefully continues to fade, other crises remain. This book is a valuable forecast of future problems."
— Kirkus Reviews