For the United States and many other nations, the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries were a period of economic prosperity-a period that lasted long enough to be considered normal. US monetary policy was determined almost exclusively by shifts in the federal funds rate. Then the Great Recession and financial crisis hit, and "normal" came to a sudden and dramatic end. In response, the global economy and US monetary policy underwent radical changes that continue to evolve and shift today. In After Normal: Making Sense of the Global Economy , veteran economist and analyst Samuel E. Rines explores how fallout from the financial crisis has altered economic patterns, and he explains the political missteps that led to the crisis in the first place. Rines reveals how issues sparked by the crisis now shape the world, from China's sudden investment in infrastructure to changes to democracies in debt-ridden southern European nations. He evaluates the repercussions of experimental bank interventions and the role consumers played in the crisis. More importantly, he looks to the future, revealing what direction the global economy will take now that "normal" no longer exists.