The 21st century marks a watershed in the history of the human economic condition. Income and wealth inequalities are now greater than ever before - and their role in the global financial crisis is one of the burning issues of today. Commodity looks at the great financial crisis from an entirely original perspective - that of the global commodity system as a newly operational totality. In the 19th century, the commodity system as defined by Karl Marx was limited to a few regions and embraced only the labour and capital capacities and their outputs. By the end of the 20th century, it encompassed the entire planet and embraced government capacity as well as private capacities, financial securities and material goods and services. This book shows how the financial crisis and its causes can only properly be understood as a result of this vast, unprecedented extension of the commodity system - a system which benefits the rich. The author makes the watertight case that it is only through the creation of a global tax authority - to coordinate national tax regimes and to implement a tax on global wealth - that we can avoid another crisis and create a fairer and more equitable world. Addressing a broad range of themes, Commodity offers a new perspective which will be of interest to political economists as well as researchers specialising in other related fields of social enquiry. Written in a clear and engaging way, the book's concise nature also makes it accessible for the non-specialist reader, and it will especially appeal to all those who want a more just society.

"The End of the World as We Know It?" explores the origins and effects of the capitalist crisis that began in 2008. It moves on to examine the responses of both the dispossessed and the ruling classes to the catastrophe, giving special attention to student mobilizations around the world. Weaving together a global network of stories and analyses, editor Deric Shannon creates an outline of what real and effective opposition to the forces that are destroying our lives and our planet might look like. From solidarity networks to revolutionary unionism, student strikes, and ever-new forms of state and corporate control, "The End of the World as We Know It?" is a guide to the future of anticapitalist struggle

"Highly recommended reading for the contemporary dissident.""--"Ruth Kinna, author of "A Beginner's Guide to Anarchism"

" """The End of the World As We Know It?" will be an invaluable resource for students of political economy in our momentous times.... it] offers an indispensable array of perspectives on the crisis in contemporary global capitalism, with an eye toward dismantling it."" "--Alessandro De Giorgi, author of "Re-thinking the Political Economy of Punishment"

" """A" must-read for those interested in navigating the turbulent waters of economic uncertainty, political instability, and global resistance. The contributors not only provide clear and accessible analyses but also, and more importantly, a range of thought-provoking proposals for change which challenge an increasingly unequal and unsustainable status quo." --Nathan Jun, Author of "Anarchism and Political Modernity"

" ""There is nothing more important for anticapitalists than providing sharp analysis and relevant answers to the problems of our time, rather than merely propagating noble ideals. Here is a book that lives up to the task." --Gabriel Kuhn, editor of "All Power to the Councils ""A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 1918-1919 "

"The contributions in "The End of the World As We Know It? "provide us with important lessons concerning the economic crisis and the attempts of working people to create a world worth living in." --Andrej Grubacic, author of "Don't Mourn, Balkanize Essays After Yugoslavia"

The Media and Financial Crises provides unique insights into the debate on the role of the media in the global financial crisis. Coverage is inter-disciplinary, with contributions from media studies, political economy and journalists themselves. It features a wide range of countries, including the USA, UK, Ireland, Greece, Spain and Australia, and a completely new history of financial crises in the British press over 150 years.

Editors Steve Schifferes and Richard Roberts have assembled an expert set of contributors, including Joseph E Stiglitz and Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times. The role of the media has been central in shaping our response to the financial crisis. Examining its performance in comparative and historical perspectives is crucial to ensuring that the media does a better job next time.

The book has five distinct parts:

• The Banking Crisis and the Media
• The Euro-Crisis and the Media
• Challenges for the Media
• The Lessons of History
• Media Messengers Under Interrogation

"

The Media and Financial Crises" offers broad and coherent coverage, making it ideal for both students and scholars of financial journalism, journalism studies, media studies, and media and economic history.

The so-called 'Spanish miracle', beginning in the mid-1990s, eventually became a nightmare for the majority of the population, culminating in the present-day economic and political crisis. This book explores the main features of the Spanish political-economic model during both the growth and crisis periods. Analyzing the causes and consequences of the continuing economic crisis in Spain, this book delves into five analytical axes: the evolution of the growth model; the role of Spain in the international division of labor; the financial sector and its influence on the rest of the economy; changes in the labor market; and the distributional consequences of both the expansive phase and the later crisis. Furthermore, contributors examine the formation of a triangle of actors (the government sector, building sector, and financial capital) that shaped the Spanish growth model, together with the effects of Spain's membership in the Economic and Monetary Union. Also considering ecological problems, gender issues, and the immigration question, this book challenges the alleged recovery of living conditions during recent years, as well as the explanation of the crisis as the result of irrational behaviors or the greedy nature of certain actors. The Political Economy of Contemporary Spain provides a coherent explanation of the Spanish economic crisis based on a pluralistic approach, while proposing several measures that could contribute to a transformation of Spain's economic and social models.

Fascinating Insight into How the Financial System Works and How the Credit Crisis Arose
Clearly supplies details vital to understanding the crisis

Unravelling the Credit Crunch provides a clearly written, comprehensive account of the current credit crisis that is easily understandable to non-specialists. It explains how the financial system was drawn into the crunch and the issues that need to be addressed to prevent further disasters.

To enable an understanding of the credit crunch, the author first examines the rules that constrain how financial institutions operate. He discusses how these institutions do business, what products were central to the development of the crunch, and how they behave. He thoroughly describes how financial institutions raise money and the legal and regulatory frameworks under which they operate. After exploring how the system works, the book illustrates how to change the rules to make financial disasters less likely.

Focusing on the rules involved in the game of finance is essential if we want to figure out what happened that led to this financial debacle. This book shows us how the actions of many financial institutions, regulatory bodies, central banks, and investment managers adversely affected the entire financial system.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. The financial crisis triggered a global debate on the taxation of the financial sector. A number of international policy initiatives, most notably by the G-20, have called for major changes to the tax treatment of financial institutions and transactions, as well as to working practice within the financial sector. This book examines how tax policies contributed to the financial crisis and whether taxation can play a role in the reform efforts to establish a sounder and safer financial system. It looks at the pros and cons of various tax initiatives including limiting the tax advantages to debt financing; special taxes on the financial sector; and financial transactions taxes. It examines policy concerns such as: the manner in which the financial sector should "pay" for its bailout and the role of accumulated tax losses on financial institutions' behaviour; the role that taxes may play in correcting the systemic externalities associated with "too big to fail"; the types of tax that are most appropriate for financial institutions and markets ("excess profits" versus "financial transactions taxes"); the interaction between taxes and the regulation of the financial sector; and the role of taxation in countercyclical and macroeconomic policies.

Praise for Endgame "This is an extremely powerful, sobering, well-written and highly accessible book. It will demonstrate to you why there are no painless solutions to the mounting debt problems around the world something that too many people are yet to realize. It will take you on a well-documented journey through the debt supercycle, making stops around the world and at critical junctures. And it is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the global debt dynamics and ways to protect against its bad consequences." Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO, PIMCO, and author of When Markets Collide "No one has thought more creatively about the economy. Mauldin's weekly newsletter is a must-read, and his book is even more important if you want to understand a rapidly changing world." Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives "Successful investors explore all possibilities. You should read this book so you can succeed in case the Endgame is our future." Jim Rogers, author of A Gift to My Children "I read everything John Mauldin writes. He travels the world and shares his financial stories like a good friend sharing a drink. Mauldin is that rarity a skeptical optimist who calls 'em straight and rewards his clients and fans." Rich Karlgaard, Publisher and Columnist, Forbes magazine "There's clearly something important going on in the world economy. Something big. Something powerful and dangerous. But something as yet undefined and uncertain. We are all feeling our way around in the dark, trying to figure out what it is. John Mauldin must have night vision glasses. He does an excellent job of seeing the obstacles. You should read this book before you knock over a lamp and stumble over the furniture." William Bonner, President and CEO, Agora Inc., and author of Dice Have No Memory and Empire of Debt "Endgame is not only a highly readable and informative account of the causes of the recent global economic and financial meltdown, but it also provides investors with a concrete investment strategy from which they can benefit while this final act in financial history is being played out." Marc Faber, Managing Director, Marc Faber, Ltd., and Editor, Gloom, Boom & Doom Report

The passage of the National Currency Act of 1863 gave the United States its first uniform paper money, its first nationally chartered and supervised commercial banks, and its first modern regulatory agency: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The law marked a milestone in the development of the U.S. financial system and the modern administrative state. Yet its importance has been largely overlooked. Banking Modern America aims to address that gap. With its unique multidisciplinary approach that brings together scholars from disciplines including history, economics, the law, and finance, this book lends a new dimension to studying the origins and development of a system that touched key aspects of modern America. Chapters examine key episodes in the history of Federal banking, looking at the Civil War origins of the national banking system and the practical challenges of setting up a new system of money and banking. The essays in this volume explore the tensions that arose between bankers and Federal regulators, between governmental jurisdictions, and even between regulators themselves. This book will be essential reading for academics of banking and finance, regulation, numismatics and history, as well as professional economists, historians and policy makers interested in the history of the US financial system.

The bailouts during the recent financial crisis enraged the public. They felt unfair--and counterproductive: people who take risks must be allowed to fail. If we reward firms that make irresponsible investments, costing taxpayers billions of dollars, aren't we encouraging them to continue to act irresponsibly, setting the stage for future crises? And beyond the ethics of it was the question of whether the government even had the authority to bail out failing firms like Bear Stearns and AIG. The answer, according to Eric A. Posner, is no. The federal government freely and frequently violated the law with the bailouts--but it did so in the public interest. An understandable lack of sympathy toward Wall Street has obscured the fact that bailouts have happened throughout economic history and are unavoidable in any modern, market-based economy. And they're actually good. Contrary to popular belief, the financial system cannot operate properly unless the government stands ready to bail out banks and other firms. During the recent crisis, Posner agues, the law didn't give federal agencies sufficient power to rescue the financial system. The legal constraints were damaging, but harm was limited because the agencies--with a few exceptions--violated or improvised elaborate evasions of the law. Yet the agencies also abused their power. If illegal actions were what it took to advance the public interest, Posner argues, we ought to change the law, but we need to do so in a way that also prevents agencies from misusing their authority. In the aftermath of the crisis, confusion about what agencies did do, should have done, and were allowed to do, has prevented a clear and realistic assessment and may hamper our response to future crises. Taking up the common objections raised by both right and left, Posner argues that future bailouts will occur. Acknowledging that inevitability, we can and must look ahead and carefully assess our policy options before we need them.

Emerging relatively unscathed from the banking crisis of 2008, China has been viewed as a model of both rampant success and fiscal stability. But beneath the surface lies a network of fissures that look likely to erupt into the next big financial crash. A bloated real-estate sector, roller-coaster stock market, and rapidly growing shadow-banking sector have all coalesced to create a perfect storm: one that is in danger of taking the rest of the world's economy with it. Walden Bello traces our recent history of financial crises - from the bursting of Japan's 'bubble economy' in 1990 to Wall Street in 2008 - taking in their political and human ramifications such as rising inequality and environmental degradation. He not only predicts that China might be the site of the next crash, but that under neoliberalism this will simply keep happening. The only way that we can stop this cycle, Bello argues, is through a fundamental change in the ways that we organise: a shift to cooperative enterprise, respectful of the environment, and which fractures the twin legacies of imperialism and capitalism. Insightful, erudite and passionate, Paper Dragons is a must-read for anyone wishing to prevent the next financial meltdown.

The rules of making money have changed-foreverWith the collapse of investment banks, trillion-dollar-plus government bailouts, and the Dow plunging like a rock, it's never been more important to understand-and actually profit from-the "new rules." Fact is, "Fiscal Hangover," will give you an investing blueprint that will allow you to profit from the changing global economy.

For the first time in 200 years, American consumers are stepping down from their position as the driving force behind the world's economy. In "Fiscal Hangover," Keith Fitz-Gerald analyzes the declining power of the American consumer and introduces you to the resulting investment opportunities. Without question, the American consumer and the United States government have provided the rest of the world with liquidity in the form of cheap capital and abundant debt. But in light of recent economic events, the rules of the game have changed and that means you must change with them-if you intend on securing your financial future.

Unlike most of today's finance books that simply examine the end of the American Empire, "Fiscal Hangover" shows you how to prepare for the fall, effectively allocate your investments, and thrive in the new global economy. This book offers specific analysis and concrete actionable steps for individual investors interested in grabbing their fair share of what will be the greatest wealth creation in the history of mankind.Examines our current financial situation and offers practical investment advice to overcome the challenges you'll faceAnalyzes the declining power of the American consumer and introduces you to the resulting investment opportunitiesDetails new investing benchmarks and discusses why the old ones no longer workExplores big picture economic issues that will affect your individual investment endeavors

The coming years may hold the greatest investment opportunities of our times, but in order to take advantage of this you'll need the insights that can only be found in "Fiscal Hangover."

The United States suffers from a shortage of well-placed homes. This was true even at the peak of the housing boom in 2005. Using a broad array of evidence on housing inflation, income, migration, homeownership trends, and international comparisons, Shut Out demonstrates that high home prices have been largely caused by the constrained housing supply in a handful of magnet cities leading the new economy. The same phenomenon is occurring in leading countries across the globe. Gentrifying cities have become exclusionary bastions in the new postindustrial economy. The US housing bubble that peaked in 2005 is more accurately described as a refugee crisis than a credit bubble. Surging demand for limited urban housing triggered a spike of migration away from the magnet cities among households with moderate and lower incomes who could no longer afford to remain, causing a brief contagion of high prices in the cities where the migrants moved. In this book, author Kevin Erdmann observes that the housing bubble has been broadly and incorrectly attributed to various "excesses." Policymakers and economists concluded that our key challenge was that we had built too many homes. This misdiagnosis of the problem, according to Erdmann, led to misguided public polices, which were the primary cause of the subsequent financial crisis. A sort of moral panic about supposed excesses in home lending and construction led to destabilizing monetary and regulatory decisions. As the economy slumped, a sense of fatalism prevented the government from responding appropriately to the worsening situation. Shut Out provides a much-needed correction to the causes and consequences of financial crises and secular stagnation.

In the midst of the current world economic crisis, many claim there is a necessity to return to the Marxian and Keynesian traditions in order to better understand the dynamics of market economies. This book is an important step in that direction. It presents a critical examination of the foundations of macroeconomics as developed in the traditions of Marx, Keynes and Kalecki, which are contrasted with the current mainstream. Particular attention is given to the problem of market forms and their relevance for macroeconomics. Professional economists and postgraduate students in economics, in particular those concerned with macroeconomics and the history of economic thought in the 20th century, will find this insightful resource invaluable. This book should be required reading for a large proportion of the economics profession who are dissatisfied with the mainstream. Contents: Foreword Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Marxian Notion of a Monetary Economy and the Critique of Say's Law 3. General Overproduction Crises 4. Keynes s Critique of Say s Law 5. Keynesian Underemployment Equilibria 6. A Critique of Keynes s Microfoundations 7. Kaleckian Macroeconomics: An Outline 8. The Problem of Market Forms in Modern Macroeconomics 9. Concluding Remarks A. A Formalization of Marx s Schemes of Reproduction B. Effects of Wage Changes in Keynes s Model C. Price Determination and Income Distribution in Kalecki

Longlisted for the FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2015. In September 2008, HBOS, with assets larger than Britain's GDP, was on the edge of bankruptcy. Its collapse would have created the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s and a major political disaster for the Labour government. With the help and support of Gordon Brown, HBOS was rescued by Lloyds TSB, one of the country's strongest banks, in circumstances that have since become the stuff of City legend. In the highly acclaimed Black Horse Ride, veteran financial journalist Ivan Fallon brings together the accounts of all the power players involved in this dramatic saga for the first time, including the key roles played by the Governor of the Bank of England, the Prime Minister and the Treasury. Through a compelling cast of prominent bankers, politicians and investors, Fallon reveals what really occurred in the aftermath of the crash of Lehman Brothers, perhaps the worst single day in banking history.

Originally written for a conference of the Federal Reserve, Gary Gorton's "The Panic of 2007" garnered enormous attention and is considered by many to be the most convincing take on the recent economic meltdown. Now, in Slapped by the Invisible Hand, Gorton builds upon this seminal work, explaining how the securitized-banking system, the nexus of financial markets and instruments unknown to most people, stands at the heart of the financial crisis.
Gorton shows that the Panic of 2007 was not so different from the Panics of 1907 or of 1893, except that, in 2007, most people had never heard of the markets that were involved, didn't know how they worked, or what their purposes were. Terms like subprime mortgage, asset-backed commercial paper conduit, structured investment vehicle, credit derivative, securitization, or repo market were meaningless. In this superb volume, Gorton makes all of this crystal clear. He shows that the securitized banking system is, in fact, a real banking system, allowing institutional investors and firms to make enormous, short-term deposits. But as any banking system, it was vulnerable to a panic. Indeed the events starting in August 2007 can best be understood not as a retail panic involving individuals, but as a wholesale panic involving institutions, where large financial firms "ran" on other financial firms, making the system insolvent.
An authority on banking panics, Gorton is the ideal person to explain the financial calamity of 2007. Indeed, as the crisis unfolded, he was working inside an institution that played a central role in the collapse. Thus, this book presents the unparalleled and invaluable perspective of a top scholar who was also a key insider.

Financial crises happen time and again in post-industrial economies—and they are extraordinarily damaging. Building on insights gleaned from many years of work in the banking industry and drawing on a vast trove of data, Richard Vague argues that such crises follow a pattern that makes them both predictable and avoidable. A Brief History of Doom examines a series of major crises over the past 200 years in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan, and China—including the Great Depression and the economic meltdown of 2008. Vague demonstrates that the over-accumulation of private debt does a better job than any other variable of explaining and predicting financial crises. In a series of clear and gripping chapters, he shows that in each case the rapid growth of loans produced widespread overcapacity, which then led to the spread of bad loans and bank failures. This cycle, according to Vague, is the essence of financial crises and the script they invariably follow. The story of financial crisis is fundamentally the story of private debt and runaway lending. Convinced that we have it within our power to break the cycle, Vague provides the tools to enable politicians, bankers, and private citizens to recognize and respond to the danger signs before it begins again.

"Robert Shiller is two for two in predicting and identifying bubbles that will burst. This book is a must read for anyone predicting future bubbles or charting the course of recovery from our current difficulties."--Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard University

"The subprime crisis has visited ruin on thousands of Americans, and it threatens the health of the global economy. In this timely and fascinating book, Robert Shiller, an expert on irrational behavior in financial markets, conducts a postmortem. How could so many smart people have been so wrong? Shiller concludes that unchecked financial innovation works poorly in asset markets, and he describes the institutions needed to prevent future bubbles."--Gregory Clark, author of "A Farewell to Alms"

"Reading this exciting book is like watching a skilled surgeon at work. The diagnosis of the subprime mortgage mess is biting in its intensity--the best I have seen--and encompasses the human tragedy as well as the economic and financial crisis. The recommended therapy develops logically from Shiller's analysis and is unique in concept as well as powerful in application. The crystal-clear writing style makes his manifesto a pleasure to read."--Peter L. Bernstein, author of "Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street" and "Capital Ideas Evolving"

"Robert Shiller is a visionary."--Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable"

"Rigorous, innovative, and accessible, "The Subprime Solution" is a wonderful book that will appeal to a wide audience. Robert Shiller is uniquely qualified to analyze the recent unprecedented problems in the mortgage and housing markets, and the way theyhave spilled over into the wider credit markets. He has again proven his ability to communicate complex ideas and evidence about financial markets."--Diane Coyle, author of "The Soulful Science"

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology Volume 38A features a symposium on public finance in the history of economic thought co-edited by guest editors Claire Silvant and Javier San Julian Arrupe, as well as general-research essays from Cosma Orsi and John Henry, and a heartfelt obituary by Mattheus Assaf of his friend, Gabriel Oliva, winner of RHETM's first Warren Samuels Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology. Including chapters on British public debt in the 19th century, French financial controversies in the mid-1800s, and a thoughtful reflection on the USA's New Deal, this volume is a global exploration of public finance history. For any researcher or student interested in the history of economics, this is an essential read containing the most up-to-date research.

Examining the news coverage of the economic crisis in Greece, this book develops a framework for identifying discourses of legitimation of actors, political decisions, and policies in the news. This study departs from the assumption that news is a privileged terrain where discursive struggles (over power) are represented and take place. Incorporating systematic analysis of news texts and journalistic practices, the model contextualises the analysis in its specific socio-political environment and examines legitimising discourse through the prism of the news. Ultimately the book recognises the active role played by journalists and media in legitimating economic crisis related policies and decisions, and how they help dominant actors establish and legitimate their authority, which in turn helps journalists legitimate their own role and authority. A concise, focused book that applies a strong theoretical and methodological framework, Discourse of Legitimation in the News is a strong contribution to the field for researchers and postgraduate students.

The new, fully-updated edition of the respected guide to understanding financial extremes, evaluating investment opportunities, and identifying future bubbles Now in its second edition, Boombustology is an authoritative, up-to-date guide on the history of booms, busts, and financial cycles. Engaging and accessible, this popular book helps investors, policymakers, and analysts navigate the radical uncertainty that plagues today's uncertain investing and economic environment. Author Vikram Mansharamani, an experienced global equity investor and prominent Harvard University lecturer, presents his multi-disciplinary framework for identifying financial bubbles before they burst. Moving beyond the typical view of booms and busts as primarily economic occurrences, this innovative book offers a multidisciplinary approach that utilizes microeconomic, macroeconomic, psychological, political, and biological lenses to spot unsustainable dynamics. It gives the reader insights into the dynamics that cause soaring financial markets to crash. Cases studies range from the 17th Century Dutch tulip mania to the more recent US housing collapse. The numerous cross-currents driving today's markets--trade wars, inverted yield curves, currency wars, economic slowdowns, dangerous debt dynamics, populism, nationalism, as well as the general uncertainties in the global economy--demand that investors, policymakers, and analysts be on the lookout for a forthcoming recession, market correction, or worse. An essential resource for anyone interested in financial markets, the second edition of Boombustology: Adopts multiple lenses to understand the dynamics of booms, busts, bubbles, manias, crashes Utilizes the common characteristics of past bubbles to assist in identifying future financial extremes Presents a set of practical indicators that point to a financial bubble, enabling readers to gauge the likelihood of an unsustainable boom Offers two new chapters that analyze the long-term prospects for Indian markets and the distortions being caused by the passive investing boom Includes a new foreword by James Grant, legendary editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer A comprehensive exploration of how bubbles form and why they burst, Boombustology, 2nd Edition is packed with a wealth of new and updated information for individual and institutional investors, academics, students, policymakers, risk-managers, and corporate managers alike.

Some of the worst effects of the global economic downturn that commenced in 2008 have been felt in Europe, and specifically in the Eurozone's so-called PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) and Cyprus. This edited volume is the first collection to bring together ethnographies of living with austerity inside the Eurozone, and explore how people across Southern Europe have come to understand their experiences of increased social suffering, insecurity, and material poverty. The contributors focus on how crises stimulate temporal thought (temporality), whether tilted in the direction of historicizing, presentifying, futural thought, or some combination of these possibilities. One of the themes linking diverse crisis experiences across national boundaries is how people contemplate their present conditions and potential futures in terms of the past. The studies in this collection thus supply ethnographies that journey to the source of historical production by identifying the ways in which the past may be activated, lived, embodied, and refashioned under contracting economic horizons. In times of crisis modern linear historicism is often overridden (and overwritten) by other historicities showing that in crises not only time, but history itself as an organizing structure and set of expectations, is up for grabs and can be refashioned according to new rules. This book was originally published as a special issue of History and Anthropology.

Following the financial and public debt crisis, the EU's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has been under intense political scrutiny. The measures adopted in response to the crisis have granted additional powers to the EU (and national) authorities, the exercise of which can have massive implications for the economies of the Member States, financial institutions and, of course, citizens. The following questions arise: how can we hold accountable those institutions that are exercising power at the national and EU level? What is the appropriate level, type and degree of accountability and transparency that should be involved in the development of the EU's governance structures in the areas of fiscal and economic governance and the Banking Union? What is the role of parliaments and courts in holding those institutions accountable for the exercise of their duties? Is the revised EMU framework democratically legitimate? How can we bridge the gap between the citizens - and the institutions that represent them - and those institutions that are making these important decisions in the field of economic and monetary policy? This book principally examines the mechanisms for political and legal accountability in the EMU and the Banking Union. It examines the implications that the reforms of EU economic governance have had for the locus and strength of executive power in the Union, as well as the role of parliaments (and other political fora) and courts in holding the institutions acting in this area accountable for the exercise of their tasks. It further sets out several proposals regarding transparency, accountability, and legitimacy in the EMU.

Central banks play an important role in the course of national economies and the global economy. Their leaders are regularly feted or vilified, their policy pronouncements highly anticipated and routinely scrutinized. This is all the more so since the global financial crisis. The past fifteen years in monetary policy is essentially the story of two mistakes and one triumph, argues Pierre L. Siklos, a professor of economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. One mistake was that central bankers underestimated the connection between finance and the real economy. The other was a failure to realize how inter-connected the world's financial system had become. The triumph, in turn, was the recognition that price stability is a desirable objective. As a result of the financial crisis, central banks stepped into the breach to provide services other institutions were unwilling or unable to carry out. In doing so, the responsibilities for governing monetary policy and financial system stability became more elastic without due consideration for the appropriateness of the division of responsibilities. Central banks no longer influence just prices they also change financial system quantities. This leads to rising policy uncertainty. And low economic growth, an insufficiently unsubstantiated expansion of central bank responsibilities, and worries over future financial instability are sources of concern that contribute to a loss of confidence in the monetary authorities around the globe. Because no coherent new framework for central bank policy has since emerged, central banking is not broken, but it is in need of repair. Central Banks into the Breach provides an overarching analysis of the current and vulnerable state of central banks and offers potential solutions to stabilize the uncertain future of central banking.

Italy from Crisis to Crisis seeks to understand Italy's approach to crises by studying the country in regional, international, and comparative context. Without assuming that the country is abnormal or unusually crisis-prone, the authors treat Italy as an example from which other countries might learn. The book integrates the analysis of domestic politics and foreign policy, including Italy's approach to military interventions, energy security, economic relations with the European Union (EU), and to the NATO alliance, and covers a number of issues that normally receive little attention in studies of "high politics," such as information policy, national identity, immigration, youth unemployment, and family relations. Finally, it puts Italy in a comparative perspective - with other European states, naturally - but also with Latin America, and even the United States, all countries that have experienced similar crises to Italy's and similar - often populist - responses. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of, and courses on, Italian politics and history, European politics and, more broadly, comparative politics and democracy.

If you've got money in the bank, chances are you've never seriously worried about not being able to withdraw it. But there was a time in the United States, an era that ended just over a hundred years ago, when bank customers had to pay close attention to the solvency of the banking system, knowing they might have to rush to retrieve their savings before the bank collapsed. During the National Banking Era (1863-1913), before the establishment of the Federal Reserve, widespread banking panics were indeed rather common. Yet these pre-Fed banking panics, as Gary B. Gorton and Ellis W. Tallman show, bear striking similarities to our recent financial crisis. Fighting Financial Crises thus turns to the past to better understand our uncertain present, investigating how panics during the National Banking Era played out and how they were eventually quelled and prevented. The authors then consider the Fed's and the SEC's reactions to the recent crisis, building an informative new perspective on how the modern economy works.