During the 2008 financial crisis, the possible changes in remittance-sending behavior and potential avenues to alleviate a probable decline in remittance flows became concerns. This book brings together a wide array of studies from around the world focusing on the recent trends in remittance flows. The authors have gathered a select group of researchers from academic, practitioner and policy making bodies. Thus the book can be seen as a conversation between the different stakeholders involved in or affected by remittance flows globally. The book is a first-of-its-kind attempt to analyze the effects of an ongoing crisis on remittance flows globally. Data analyzed by the book reveals three trends. First, The more diversified the destinations and the labour markets for migrants the more resilient are the remittances sent by migrants. Second, the lower the barriers to labor mobility, the stronger the link between remittances and economic cycles in that corridor. And third, as remittances proved to be relatively resilient in comparison to private capital flows, many remittance-dependent countries became even more dependent on remittance inflows for meeting external financing needs. There are several reasons for migration and remittances to be relatively resilient to the crisis. First, remittances are sent by the stock (cumulative flows) of migrants, not only by the recent arrivals (in fact, recent arrivals often do not remit as regularly as they must establish themselves in their new homes). Second, contrary to expectations, return migration did not take place as expected even as the financial crisis reduced employment opportunities in the US and Europe. Third, in addition to the persistence of migrant stocks that lent persistence to remittance flows, existing migrants often absorbed income shocks and continued to send money home. Fourth, if some migrants did return or had the intention to return, they tended to take their savings back to their country of origin. Finally, exchange rate movements during the crisis caused unexpected changes in remittance behavior: as local currencies of many remittance recipient countries depreciated sharply against the US dollar, they produced a sale effect on remittance behavior of migrants in the US and other destination countries."

A deeper look at the issues raised by the acclaimed Four Horsemen film. As the global economy veers from crisis to catastrophe, people have finally had enough. Billions are denied effective access to an economy that has been hijacked by vested interests. The people who caused the financial crisis suffer no loss, while the innocent majority see their living standards fall, or pay with their jobs. But it doesn't have to be like this. By equipping ourselves with a better understanding of the crisis and its root causes in a fatally flawed economic system, not only will we be better prepared for the challenges ahead, but we will also find the motivation to work towards real change. The Survival Manual points the way to a saner future. The need for change has never been more urgent, but the conditions have never been more favourable. With hope and belief we can build a better world, and create a civilization fit for human beings.

Rising fees. Rampant foreclosures. Americans (and much of the rest of the world) are angry and fed up with banks. In this explosive book, Carol Realini reveals what afflicts today's biggest banks and how they can transform using disruptive innovation to reconnect with their customers. Today's vast superbanks are organizations that seem to operate by their own rules and trample their Main Street customers. BANKRUPT reveals what afflicts today's biggest banks, and shows how they nickel-and-dime the average customer even as they hold trillions of dollars in assets and government bailout funds. It's not about creating nostalgia for a golden age that is long past. It's about how today's banks can transform themselves to redefine banking. It's a call for leadership that lives by the motto "Do the right thing." To chart a path to the future, Realini draws upon her extensive personal experience in India, and reveals the amazing revolution in grassroots banking that is taking place right now. BANKRUPT is an optimistic book. It uses the crisis we are experiencing as a way to look forward to a very different kind of future for banking - one that will benefit both the banks and their millions of customers.

Inequality is a charged topic. Measures of income inequality rose in the USA in the 1990s to levels not seen since 1929 and gave rise to a suspicion, not for the first time, of a link between radical inequality and financial instability with a resulting crisis under capitalism. Professional macroeconomists have generally taken little interest in inequality because, within the parameters of traditional economic theory, the economy will stabilize itself at full employment. In addition, enlightened economists could enact stabilizing measures to manage any imbalances. The dominant voices among academic economists were unable to interpret the causal forces at work during both the Great Depression and the recent global financial crisis. In Inequality and Instability, James K. Galbraith argues that since there has been no serious work done on the macroeconomic effects of inequality, new sources of evidence are required. Galbraith offers for the first time a vast expansion of the capacity to calculate measures of inequality both at lower and higher levels of aggregation. Instead of measuring inequality as traditionally done, by country, Galbraith insists that to understand real differences that have real effects, inequality must be examined through both smaller and larger administrative units, like sub-national levels within and between states and provinces, multinational continental economies, and the world. He points out that inequality could be captured by measures across administrative boundaries to capture data on more specific groups to which people belong. For example, in China, economic inequality reflects the difference in average income levels between city and countryside, or between coastal regions and the interior, and a simple ratio averages would be an indicator of trends in inequality over the country as a whole. In a comprehensive presentation of this new method of using data, Inequality and Instability offers an unequaled look at the US economy and various global economies that was not accessible to us before. This provides a more sophisticated and a more accurate picture of inequality around the world, and how inequality is one of the most basic sources of economic instability.

In recent years, a financial crisis not encountered for almost half a century broke out globally, deeply affecting the economy of China. This book covers topics in relation to the financial crisis in China, such as how the financial crisis intensifies discussion on "the China Model", the comprehensive interpretation on the scale, structure and effects of the 4 trillion economic stimulus plan and the development of rural finance in China under circumstances of world-wide financial upheaval.

The choices facing the 112th Congress come at a time when the federal government's debt has increased dramatically in the past few years and when large annual budget deficits are projected to continue indefinitely under current laws or policies. Beyond the coming decade, the ageing of the U.S. population and rising health care costs will put increasing pressure on the budget. If federal debt continues to expand faster than the economy, as it has since 2007, the growth of people's income will slow, the share of federal spending devoted to paying interest on the debt will rise more quickly, and the risk of a fiscal crisis will increase. This book examines options that would reduce projected budget deficits covering an array of policy areas from defence to energy, to entitlement programs, to provisions of the tax code.

In Fault Lines, Rajan makes a case for looking beyond the short-sighted blame-game that targets only greedy bankers. There are serious flaws in the global economy, he writes, and an even more debilitating crisis awaits us if those faults are not addressed right now. Rajan demonstrates how the individual choices - made by bankers, government officials and ordinary homeowners - that collectively brought about the economic meltdown were rational responses to a defective global financial order: specifically, a mismatch between the incentives and the dangers involved in taking on risks. He traces the deepening fault lines in a world overly dependent on the indebted American consumer to power economic growth and stave off global downturns. In Fault Lines, Rajan outlines the hard choices that all nations must make to ensure greater stability and lasting prosperity. Importantly, he examines how the Indian development experience differs from that of other fast-growing economies. Despite India's recent successes, he argues that the country must act decisively to maintain its people-oriented growth. This unique development path, he contends, will be a compelling role model - a triumph of rapid growth in a flourishing democracy.

Your Survival Guide to the Next Financial Storm

""Many commentators rant about budget deficits and the country's moral failings. Russ Koesterich calmly and objectively describes our downward economic spiral over the next 20 years and recommends the investments best suited for that journey.""
--Ron Kahn, Global Head of Research, BlackRock Scientific Active Equities, and coauthor of "Active Portfolio Management"

""A must-read for anyone who has ever touched currency or heard of money.""
--Vadim Zlotnikov, Chief Market Strategist, AllianceBernstein

""A useful book that underlines an essential reality: Americans will not be returning to the old normal. We must adapt to a changing world that presents us with new risks and opportunities. "The Ten Trillion Dollar Gamble" broadens and deepens a conversation we have to have.""
--Ian Bremmer, President, Eurasia Group, and author of "The J Curve" and "The End of the Free Market"

""This book gives investors practical and easy-to-follow solutions on how to protect their investments and financial future.""
--Arthur B. Laffer, founder and CEO, Laffer Associates, and author of "The End of Prosperity"

""A superb book. Russ Koesterich's recommendations spanning financial and real assets are insightful, relevant, and pragmatic. Russ is among the select few veterans of the investment management profession who are able to project academic insights faithfully, offer compelling investment advice--and write a page-turner.""
--S. P. Kothari, Deputy Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management

"""The Ten Trillion Dollar Gamble" is a well-crafted book. At every turn the author explains the rationale for including or excluding particular assets in a portfolio, especially as they react to higher interest rates, slower growth, and possible inflation. The investor who is worried about protecting his wealth in the coming decade(s) would do well to consider Koesterich's advice.""
--SeekingAlpha.com"

""A helpful, methodical 'financial playbook' for realistic investors. Highly recommended for those planning to invest over the next five years or more. It is not easy to find books that combine debt macroeconomics with sound financial advice, but Koesterich manages it well.""
--"Library Journal"

About the Book:

The next financial disaster is around the corner. Are you prepared?

With the nation's deficit expanding into the trillions of dollars, investors need to be prepared for the inevitable--and potentially devastating--fallout. Most economists agree that interest rates will rise, inflation will likely be higher, and virtually every aspect of our economy will be affected. Smart investors need to ask themselves: "How should I invest today to survive the storm tomorrow?"

The answer is in this brilliantly calculated, forward-thinking investment guide from Black-Rock strategist Russ Koesterich. He'll show you exactly what to expect in the new deficit economy--and how to handle your finances smartly, safely, and securely . . . Stocks and Bonds How to Invest in a Rising Rate Environment Real Estate How the Deficit Will Affect the Market Commodities The Benefits of Owning Real Assets Portfolio Management What You Should Do Before It's Too Late

More than a collection of fascinating financial predictions, "The Ten Trillion Dollar Gamble" offers solid advice on a wide range of investment options. You'll discover which markets are hot--and which are not--when the storm finally hits.

You'll find out if Treasury bonds are right for youand why commodities will be even more important in the future. You'll learn the best ways to invest in real estate, how to handle your growing debt, and how to manage higher interest rates for everything from mortgages to savings accounts.

Most important, you'll be able to apply these professional insights into building a stronger portfolio for you and your family.

Just because the government is gambling with our future doesn't mean you should. "The Ten Trillion Dollar Gamble" offers a winning game plan to help you protect and build your wealth for the long term.

When the next storm hits, you won't just survive, you'll thrive.

The macroeconomic development of most major industrial economies is characterised by boom-bust cycles. Normally such boom-bust cycles are driven by specific sectors of the economy. In the financial meltdown of the years 2007 2009 it was the credit sector and the real-estate sector that were the main driving forces. This book takes on the challenge of interpreting and modelling this meltdown. In doing so it revives the traditional Keynesian approach to the financial-real economy interaction and the business cycle, extending it in several important ways. In particular, it adopts the Keynesian view of a hierarchy of markets and introduces a detailed financial sector into the traditional Keynesian framework. The approach of the book goes beyond the currently dominant paradigm based on the representative agent, market clearing and rational economic agents. Instead it proposes an economy populated with heterogeneous, rationally bounded agents attempting to cope with disequilibria in various markets.

The Great Recession of 2008-9 was the worst slump in the world economy since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Michael Roberts forecast that it would happen a few years before and in this book he explains why the Great Recession happened - relying on Marx's analysis of the laws of motion in a capitalist economy. And he makes predictions of whether and when it could happen again.

The credit crisis has pushed the whole world so far into the red that the gigantic sums involved defy understanding. On a human level, what does such an enormous degree of debt and insolvency mean? In this timely book, cultural critic Richard Dienst considers the financial crisis, global poverty, media politics and radical theory to parse the various implications of a world where man is born free but everywhere is in debt. Written with humor and verve, Bonds of Debt ranges across subjects such as Obama s national security strategy, the architecture of Prada stores, press photos of Bono, and a fairy tale told by Karl Marx to capture a modern condition founded on fiscal imprudence. Moving beyond the dominant pieties and widespread anxieties surrounding the topic, Dienst re-conceives the world s massive financial obligations as a social, economic, and political bond, where the crushing weight of objectified wealth comes face to face with new demands for equality and solidarity. For this inspired analysis, we are indebted to him.

Between 1760 and 1860, the English countryside was subject to constant attempts at agricultural improvement. Most often these meant depriving cottagers and rural workers of access to land they could cultivate, despite evidence that they were the most productive farmers in a country constantly short of food. Drawing from a wide range of contemporary sources, Apostles of Inequality argues that such attempts, driven by a flawed faith in the wonders of capital, did little to increase agricultural productivity and instead led to a century of increasing impoverishment in rural England. Jim Handy rejects the assertions about the benefits that accompanied the transition to "improved" agriculture and details the abundant evidence for the efficiency of smallholder, peasant agriculture. He traces the development of both economic theory and government policy through the work of agricultural improver Arthur Young (1741-1820), government advisor Nassau William Senior (1790-1864), and the editors and writers of the Economist, as well as Adam Smith and Thomas Robert Malthus. Apostles of Inequality demonstrates how a fascination with capital - promoted by political economy and farmers' desires to have a labour force completely dependent on wage labour - fostered widespread destitution in rural England for over a century.

The death of the Celtic tiger is not an extinction event to trouble naturalists. There was, in fact nothing natural about this tiger, if it ever really existed. The"Irish Economic miracle" was built on good old-fashioned subsidies (from the European Union) and the simple fact that until the 1980s Ireland was by the standards of the developed world so economically backward that the only way was up. And as it began to catch up to European and American averages, the Irish economy could boast some seemingly remarkable statistics. These lured in investors, the Irish deregulated and all but abandoned financial oversight, and a great Irish financial ceilidh began. It would last for a decade. When the global financial crash of 2008 arrived it struck Ireland harder than anywhere-even Iceland looked like a model of rectitude compared to the fiasco that stretched from Cork to Dublin. There was an avalanche of statistics as toxic as the property-based assets that lay beneath many of them: type="disc" The International Monetary Fund was predicting that Ireland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would shrink by 13.5 per cent in 2009 and 2010-the worst performance among all the advanced economies and one of the worst ever recorded in peacetime in the developed world. type="disc" Government debt almost doubled in a year. type="disc" In May 2008, &euro13.5 million was paid for a 450-acre farm in Warrenstown, County Meath-one of the highest prices ever paid for agricultural land anywhere in the world. By 2009 the level of debt among Irish households and companies was the highest in the European Union. type="disc" The country's gross indebtedness was larger than Japan's, which has thirty times the population. type="disc" Between 1994 and 2006, the average second-hand house price in Dublin increased from &euro82,772 to &euro512,461-a rise of 519 per cent. By 2009 Irish house prices had fallen more rapidly than any others in Europe. type="disc" With a fifth of its office spaces empty, Dublin had the highest vacancy rate of any European capital and was rated as having the worst development and investment potential of twenty-seven European cities. type="disc" The Irish stock exchange fell by 68 per cent in 2008 type="disc" The average Irish family had lost almost half its financial assets type="disc" Unemployment rose faster than in any other Western European country, increasing by 85 per cent in a year. type="disc" Ireland's bad bank, the National Assets Management Agency (Nama), which had to take over &euro90 billion in loans to developers from banks that would otherwise be insolvent holds more assets [sic] than any publicly quoted property company in the world, dwarfing giants such as GE Capital Real Estate and Morgan Stanley Real Estate, which own assets of &euro60 billion and &euro48 billion respectively.And under all this rubble lay the corpse of the Celtic Tiger. How Ireland managed to achieve such a spectacular implosion is a stunning story of corruption, carelessness and venality, told with passion and fury by one of Ireland's most respected journalists and commentators.

CNBC's David Faber takes an in-depth look at the causes and consequences of the recent financial collapse

"And Then the Roof Caved In" lays bare the truth of the credit crisis, whose defining emotion at every turn has been greed, and whose defining failure is the complicity of the U.S. government in letting that greed rule the day. Written by CNBC's David Faber, this book painstakingly details the truth of what really happened with compelling characters who offer their first-hand accounts of what they did and why they did it.

Page by page, Faber explains the events of the previous seven years that planted the seeds for the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He begins in 2001, when the Federal Reserve embarked on an unprecedented effort to help the economy recover from the attacks of 9/11 by sending interest rates to all time lows. Faber also gives you an up-close look at where the crisis was incubated and unleashed upon the world-Wall Street-and introduces you to insiders from investment banks and mortgage lenders to ratings agencies, that unwittingly conspired to insure lending standards were abandoned in the head long rush for profits.Based on two years of research, this book provides deep background into the current credit crisisOffers the insights of experienced professionals-from Alan Greenspan to prominent bankers and regulators-who were on the front linesCreated by David Faber, the face of morning business news on CNBC, and host of the network's award winning documentaries

From regulators who tried to stop this problem before it swung out of control to hedge fund managers who correctly foresaw the coming housing crash and profited from it, "And Then the Roof Caved In" shows you how the crisis we currently face came to be.

It often seems that different crises are competing to devastate civilization. This book argues that financial meltdown, dwindling oil reserves, terrorism and food shortages need to be considered as part of the same ailing system. Most accounts of our contemporary global crises such as climate change, or the threat of terrorism, focus on one area, or another, to the exclusion of others. Nafeez Ahmed argues that the unwillingness of experts to look outside their specialisations explains why there is so much disagreement and misunderstanding about particular crises. This book attempts to investigate all of these crises, not as isolated events, but as trends and processes that belong to a single global system. We are therefore not dealing with a "clash of civilizations," as Huntington argued. Rather, we are dealing with a fundamental crisis of civilization itself. This book provides a stark warning of the consequences of failing to take a broad view of the problems facing the world.

"Peter Nichols has crafted a terrifyingly relevant historical narrative...A terrific read."
-Nathaniel Philbrick, author of "In The Heart of the Sea"
In 1871, America's last fleet of whaling ships was destroyed in an arctic ice storm. Miraculously, 1,218 men, women and children survived, but the disaster was catastrophic at home.
"Oil and Ice" is the story of one fateful whaling season that illuminates the unprecedented rise and devastating fall of America's first oil economy, and the fate of today's petroleum industry.

*What were the causes of the financial and economic crises of 2008-2009? *What intellectual and policy mistakes prevented academics and policymakers from anticipating the crisis? *What is the future of financial regulation both domestic and international? *What role did global macroeconomic imbalances play in the run-up to the crisis? *What is the future of the export-led growth model and what are the implications for developing countries? *To what extent will government remain involved in the economy as a result of the crisis? *What is state of infrastructure policy and the outlook for growth-promoting infrastructure spending? *What is the appropriate role of countercyclical fiscal policy in stimulating growth? *What are the long term challenges to growth? *How will climate change dynamics affect developing country growth in the future? *How will evolving demographic trends affect labor markets and what are possible policy steps to mitigate projected declines in economic growth? This book has been prepared for the Commission on Growth and Development to evaluate the prospects for economic growth in developing countries in the wake of the world financial and economic crises of 2008-2009. It considers a range of questions, particularly with regard to the future of globalization and the policy implications of the crisis. It considers the important issues pertaining to short-term, medium-term, and long-term growth and puts forward the latest policy ideas for fostering sustained economic growth in the developing world. Written by prominent academics, policymakers, and practitioners, the contributions to 'Globalization and Growth' seeks to create a better understanding of the evolving dynamic of globalization and economic growth, with particular regard to developing countries, and to inform policy makers of possible policy levers to address central concerns in this area."

How Excessive Risk Destroyed Lehman and Nearly Brought Down the Financial Industry

""Uncontrolled Risk" will ruffle feathers--and for good reason--as voters and legislators learn the diffi cult lessons of Lehman's collapse and demand that we never forget them."
Dr. David C. Shimko, Board of Trustees, Global Association of Risk Professionals

""Uncontrolled Risk" is a drama as gripping as any work of fiction. Williams's recommendations for changes in the governance of financial institutions should be of interest to anyone concerned about the welfare of global financial markets."
Geoffrey Miller, Stuyvesant Comfort Professor of Law and Director, Center for the Study of Central Banks and Financial Institutions, New York University

"The complex balance of free enterprise on Wall Street and the healthy regulation of its participants is the central economic issue of today. Williams's forensic study of Lehman's collapse may be the best perspective so far on the issues that now face regulators."
Jeffrey P. Davis, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Lee Munder Capital Group

"Provides a very perceptive analysis of the fl aws inherent in risk management systems and modern fi nancial markets. Mandatory reading for risk managers and financial industry executives."
Vincent Kaminski, Professor in the Practice of Management, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University

"Gives the reader much food for thought on the regulation of our financial system and its interplay with corporate governance reform in the United States and around the world."
Professor Charles M. Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance, University of Delaware

"The risk taking behind Wall Street's largest bankruptcy . . ."

In this dramatic and compelling account of Lehman Brothers' spectacular rise and fall, author Mark T. Williams explains how uncontrolled risk toppled a 158-year-old institution--and what it says about Wall Street, Washington, D.C., and the world financial system. A former trading floor executive and Fed bank examiner, Williams sees Lehman's 2008 collapse as a microcosm of the industry--a worst-case scenario of smart decisions, stupid mistakes, ignored warnings, and important lessons in money, power, and policy that affect us all. This book reveals: The Congressional inquisition of disgraced CEO Dick Fuld: "Did he really deserve it?" How the investment-banking money machine broke down: "Can it be fixed?" The key drivers that caused the financial meltdown: "Can lessons be learned from them?" The wild risk taking denounced by President Obama: "Is Washington to blame, too?" The ongoing debate on reform and regulation: "Can meaningful reform avert another financial catastrophe?"

This fascinating account traces Lehman's history from its humble beginnings in 1850 to its collapse in 2008. Lehman's story exemplifies the everchanging trends in finance--from investment vehicles to federal policies--and exposes the danger and infectious nature of uncontrolled risk.

Drawing upon first-person interviews with risk management experts and former Lehman employees, Williams provides more than just a frontline report: it's a call to action for Wall Street bankers, Washington policymakers, and U.S. citizens--a living lesson in risk management on which to build a stronger fi nancial future. Williams provides a tenpoint plan to implement today--so another Lehman doesn't collapse tomorrow.

Includes a ten-point plan to ensure a strong financial future for both Wall Street and Main Street

A large and relatively unimpeded flow of credit through healthy financial markets is a salient attribute of the U.S. economy and any well functioning modern economy. Banks and other financial institutions channel the economy's savings toward a variety of current productive uses. By borrowing short-term and lending long-term, these institutions create a flow of credit that passes liquidity from savers to investors, and transforms liquid short-run assets into less liquid long-term assets. But lending in credit markets requires confidence in the borrowers' ability to repay the debt (principal and interest) in full and on schedule. The current turmoil in U.S. financial markets is the result of a breakdown in that necessary confidence. In an environment of distrust, financial institutions are far less willing and able to lend long-term. This book examines the monetary policy and macro-economic supply factors in U.S. credit markets that contributed to the credit expansion. This book also defines credit default swaps, explains their use by banks for risk management, and discusses the potential for systemic risk. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

The recovery of the Asia-Pacific region from the global economic crisis of 2008-2009 is underway but incomplete. Risks range from slow growth and persistent unemployment to re-emerging international imbalances and financial volatility. While early policy responses to the crisis were successful in avoiding a larger calamity, new policy strategies are now needed to resolve imbalances among the United States, China, and other economies, and to build robust demand in the medium term. This report, drafted by an international team of experts for the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECe, provides a policy framework for completing the recovery and achieving sustained growth beyond it. The report identifies priorities for replacing stimulus programmes with structural reforms, and for launching new growth engines to drive investment and employment throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Led by Professor Peter Petri (Brandeis University/East-West Center), the team included eminent scholars from China, Japan, the United States and other countries. The report presents a regional strategy as well as separate, detailed analyses of the challenges facing China, Advanced Asia, Southeast Asia, North America, and South America. It concludes that inclusive, balanced, sustained growth in the region is feasible, but will require structural reforms that change economic relationships within economies and among them, and substantial international cooperation in implementing coherent national policies.

This book takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the great financial crisis of 2007-09. It combines the disciplines of economics, finance, sociology and politics to analyse the causes, consequences and challenges of the crisis. The authors propose that the causes of the crisis should be understood at three inter-related levels - the level of theory and ideology; the level of financial industry practices and malpractices; and finally the level of structural imbalances in the international economy. Above all, the book is historical and holistic in perspective. This book is an excellent read for the critical layman interested in understanding the causes that underlie the global financial crisis. The authors combine the inquisitive and critical mind of a scholar and the lucid writing style of a journalist. The book provides a perspective on the crisis that is both practical and down to earth and at the same time, rigorous and holistic. Khor Hoe Ee, Chief Economist, Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development, and former Assistant Managing Director, Economics, Monetary Authority of Singapore The authors trace the rise of finance and its domination over the real economy, the consequences of financial innovation and deregulation for systemic fragility, and the failure of conventional economic and financial theory to analyse and anticipate the consequent dangers. Their main original contribution is to relate these Western market developments to recent trends in the East Asian region and to call for appropriate systemic reforms, not only to avoid similar future crises, but also to address other underlying development and analytical problems. K.S. Jomo, Assistant Secretary General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations In linking wealth and income distribution to financial instability, this book makes an important point that is often missed in the debate on the crisis. Central Banks have become strongly opposed to the idea of accommodating wage demands with the help of monetary easing, but they have been increasingly tolerant, or even supportive, of debt-financed consumption and asset inflation. Indeed, by serving to concentrate wealth further in the hands of a small rentier class, while protecting that class from the risks of debt defaults, they are only adding to systemic pressures that give rise to serious financial crises. Yilmaz Akyuz, Special Economic Advisor, South Centre, and former Chief Economist at United Nations Conference for Trade and Development

"GIS, Human Geography, and Disasters" is about people and places impacted by disasters. As geographers we emphasize the spatial, using maps to more fully understand the social processes at work. Topics covered include, "Social" GIS and disasters, spatial comparisons between disasters, spatial patterns in social and health vulnerability, post-disaster health, and neighborhood scale recovery. The book draws heavily from our ongoing experiences with Hurricane Katrina. However, we have written this book in such a way that instructors need not have personal experience with these events; nor is it vital that an instructor has experience with different geospatial technologies. The exercises included in this book can be used by students with GIS skills, but anyone with access to Google Earth and Google Street View can also benefit. We believe it is important to stress the human and the spatial, not just data and techniques. From the student's perspective, this is not a text full of dates or numbers to memorize. We want you to understand the social processes at work-linked by their geography. Andrew Curtis is in the Department of Geography at the University of Southern California. Prior to this he was Director of the "World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Remote Sensing and GIS for Public Health" at Louisiana State University. His research interests are centered around the geography of health, with a particular emphasis on spatial analysis and geospatial technology. During Hurricane Katrina he helped with geospatial support for search and rescue operations in the Louisiana Emergency Operation Center. He continues to work on various Katrina recovery projects, including developing new geospatial approaches that can empower the abandoned communities of New Orleans in the fight to reestablish their neighborhoods. Jacqueline W. Mills is in the Department of Geography at the California State University at Long Beach. Her research interests are focused around Geographic Information Science (GISc) approaches to the study of natural disasters, particularly how places recover from these events and how people modify their environment to become disaster-resilient. Specific interests within this larger agenda include land use, health, policy, community participation through GISc, and geospatial risk communication. She continues to work in post-Katrina New Orleans, as well as in areas impacted by the 2007 Southern California wildfires. In 2007, a team including Curtis and Mills were awarded the Meredith F. Burrill Award by the Association of American Geographers (AAG) for the LSU GIS Clearinghouse Cooperative an important spatial data clearinghouse for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

The Crash of International Finance-Capital and its Implications for the Third World was first published in 1989 in response to the financial crisis of 1987. Professor Nabudere's analysis of the causes of that crisis has extraordinary parallels with the contemporary financial and economic meltdown that has caused panic in the West and devastated the lives of millions in the Third World. Nabudere traces the historical evolution of money and finance-capital and demonstrates the inevitability of periodic crashes of finance-capital. Although the first edition was published before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the analysis of the causes of the periodic crisis of capitalism is as relevant today as it was 20 years ago. In this second edition, Professor Nabudere provides an updated analysis of the crash of international finance-capital of 2007-08 and draws out the likely implications for the Third World, a perspective that has received little attention elsewhere. This book is a damning critique of a system that has paid trillions of dollars to bail out international banks and financial institutions, the very institutions that were responsible tor creating the crash, while the rest of humanity - especially the majority in the Third World - suffers its devastating consequences. Capitalism, Nabudere argues, has lost all moral and ethical claims to be a means for progress; it is, he believes, an indefensible system.

In recent years, the world has seen both massive destruction caused by natural disasters and immense financial and physical support for the victims of these calamities. So that these natural hazards do not become manmade disasters, effective systems are required to identify needs, manage data, and help calibrate responses. If well designed, such systems can help coordinate the influx of aid to ensure the timely and efficient delivery of assistance to those who need it most. 'Data Against Natural Disasters' seeks to provide the analytical tools needed to enhance national capacity for disaster response. The editors and authors begin with an overview that summarizes key lessons learned form the six country case studies in the volume. Next, they outline the data needs that arise at different stages in the disaster response and explore the humanitarian community's efforts to discover more effective response mechanisms. The country case studies review the successes and failures of efforts to establish innovative monitoring systems in the aftermath of disasters in Guatemala, Haiti, Indonesia, Mozambique, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. 'Data Against Natural Disasters' will be useful to policy makers and others working in port-calamity situations who are seeking to design new monitoring systems or to improve existing ones for disaster response management.

As the economic crisis spreads from financial markets to real economies in countries around the world, governments have understandably focused on short-term measures to contain the collapse. Constructing stimulus packages and financial bailouts to address the immediate problems has been the policymakers' priority for foundational recovery. Detailing another proximate cause of the crash --the problem of global imbalances between savings and investment in major countries --former IMF official Steven Dunaway drafts a proposal to rebuild international finance's structural foundations.

Fiscal diplomacy, through the Group of Twenty (G20) process, represents an important opportunity to make the world economy sounder and to prevent future problems for the financial system. But if nothing is done to correct global current account deficits, Dunaway warns in this important book, the imbalances will simply build up again as the world economy seemingly recovers. In time, the enlarging deficits will become a major contributing factor to the next global crisis.