Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff
For eight centuries, economies have suffered through the same boom and bust cycles while deluding themselves into believing that modern innovations make them immune to history.
The "this time is different" syndrome describes the dangerous false belief that old economic rules no longer apply due to technological or regulatory advances.
Historical analysis reveals that severe banking crises are consistently followed by deep recessions, prolonged unemployment, and an explosion in public debt.
A major academic controversy erupted when critics discovered spreadsheet errors in Reinhart and Rogoff's study, questioning the claim that growth inevitably stalls when debt exceeds 90 percent of GDP.