Japan experienced a remarkable growth in international finance, through a series of liberalization measures in the 1980s. However, her position in the global financial system is still limited, as the reserve currency share of yen illustrates. Why does such a contrast exist? Historical comparison with Britain and the United States as well as extensive data provide a key to answer the question.

There is a foundational crisis in financial theory and professional investment practice: There is little, if any, credible evidence that active investment strategies and traditional institutional quantitative technologies are able to provide superior risk-adjusted, cost-adjusted return over investment relevant horizons. Economic and financial theory has been in error for more than fifty years and is the fundamental cause of the persistent ineffectiveness of professional asset management. Contemporary sociological and economic theory, agent-based modeling, and an appreciation of the social context for preference theory provides a rational and intuitive framework for understanding financial markets and economic behavior. The author narrates his long-term experience in the use and limitations of traditional tools of quantitative asset management as an institutional asset manager in practice and as a quantitative analyst and strategist on Wall Street. Monte Carlo simulation methods, modern statistical tools, and U.S. patented innovations are introduced to redefine portfolio optimality and procedures for enhanced professional asset management. A new social context for expected utility theory leads to a novel understanding of modern equity markets as a financial intermediary for purchasing power constant time-shift investing uniquely appropriate for meeting investor long-term investment objectives. This book addresses the limitations and indicated resolutions for more useful financial theory and more reliable asset management technology. In the process, it traces the major historical developments of theory and institutional asset management practice and their limitations over the course of the 20th century to the present, including Markowitz and the birth of modern finance, CAPM theory and emergence of institutional quantitative asset management, CAPM and VM theory limitations and ineffective iconic tools and strategies, and innovations in statistical methodologies and financial market theory.

When the 12 District Banks of the Federal Reserve System opened their doors for business on November 16, 1914, few observers could have foreseen the Fed's present role as a major, if not dominant, player in U. S. and world economic policymaking. After all, two previous attempts to create a central bank in this country had ended in failure. Moreover, much of the economic theory and institutional structure that have given rise to monetary policy's influence in recent years were not yet in place. Indeed, it would take the Fed more than 20 years to learn (by accident ) the power of open market operations. Clearly, the modern Federal Reserve System has found itself with powers and responsibilities that were not envisioned by its founders. These proceedings from a conference held at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on October 19-20, 1989, examine U. S. monetary policy from a variety of perspectives: a historical review of how it has affected aggregate economic performance; a positive analysis of why the Federal Reserve has chosen particular policy strategies; a review of normative arguments about what the Fed should pursue as its policy objective; a critique of how the Fed's "output"-the flow of monetary services in the U. S. economy-is measured; and, finally, a debate over the Fed's ability to influence real economic activity by changing the nominal quantity of money in circulation.

This book examines financial vulnerability: a state in which a person or household cannot absorb any substantial spending or negative income shock without substantial financial and ultimately broader harm such as job loss, emotional harm, or mental illness. The focus of the book is on the experiences of low- income and modest income Canadian families - families which, by virtue of being in the lower income brackets, are particularly at risk of experiencing financial hardship. Looking at vulnerability from a conceptual and empirical lens, this book offers a framework to better understand the complex and interdependent ways in which financial vulnerability emerge and can be addressed. By locating its analysis of individual and household financial management in wider community, cultural, and economic contexts, this book seeks to offer holistic policy recommendations to reduce financial vulnerability, with implications that go beyond Canada and to other developed countries.

This book examines the current main sustainable development issues in Asia from a socio-economic, macroeconomic, and financial perspective, beyond a plain environmental context. The book further analyzes both financial or health crises, which jeopardize the economic sustainability of countries, particularly in Asia where a sustained economic growth path is an occurrence of the recent past. By doing so, the volume presents case studies on countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN countries, like Thailand. In some instances, the book provides a comparative analysis of the experience of European Union countries. The book is divided into two parts. The first part presents contributions with socio-economic perspectives under the broad heading of sustainable development. Each contribution examines a specific Asian country. Additionally, it looks into China's rise in adjacent regions like the Middle East, discussing China's positioning in the world in the current post Covid19 context. The second part presents the experiences of a number of Asian countries in terms of financial and economic perspectives, including an analysis of the issue of sovereign debt. The book further examines broader topics, like the sustainability of the top financial centers, and micro-finance. The volume is a must-read for scholars, students, and practitioners, interested in a better understanding of sustainable development issues in Asia in particular, and economics in general.

Intertemporal macroeconomics relies on microeconomics and general equilibrium analysis to describe choices of agents over a long period of time, perhaps infinitely long. To this, methods of growth theory are linked and the effects of policy interventions are examined as the interaction between decisions of agents and policy interventions. Two basic approaches areexplored: models of infinitely-lived agents (Cass-Ramsey-Koopmans approach) and models of overlapping-generations (Allais-Fisher-Samuelson approach). In addition to fiscal policy, the more controversial questions concerning monetary models and monetary policies are considered. The book offers a framework and a systematic exploration of these and related questions. It also introduces models of endogenous growth, both real and monetary models.

This book presents innovations in the mathematical foundations of financial analysis and numerical methods for finance and applications to the modeling of risk. The topics selected include measures of risk, credit contagion, insider trading, information in finance, stochastic control and its applications to portfolio choices and liquidation, models of liquidity, pricing, and hedging. The models presented are based on the use of Brownian motion, Levy processes and jump diffusions. Moreover, fractional Brownian motion and ambit processes are also introduced at various levels. The chosen blend of topics gives an overview of the frontiers of mathematics for finance. New results, new methods and new models are all introduced in different forms according to the subject. Additionally, the existing literature on the topic is reviewed. The diversity of the topics makes the book suitable for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the areas of financial modeling and quantitative finance. The chapters will also be of interest to experts in the financial market interested in new methods and products. This volume presents the results of the European ESF research networking program Advanced Mathematical Methods for Finance.

This book explains how standard micro-founded macroeconomics is misguided and proposes an alternative method based on statistical physics. The Great Recession following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2015 amply demonstrated that mainstream micro-founded macroeconomics was in trouble. The new approach advanced in this book reasonably explains important macro-problems such as employment, business cycles, growth, and inflation/deflation. The key concept is demand failures, which modern micro-founded macroeconomics has ignored. "It (Chapter 3) captures analytically a good part of the intuition that underlies the Keynesian economics of people like Tobin and me." Robert Solow, Emeritus Institute Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1987 "Professor Hiroshi Yoshikawa provides a unique synthesis of statistical physics and macro-economic theory in order to confront the dismal failure in economics and in finance to understand how an economy or a financial market works, given the heterogeneous decision making of many different individual interacting actors. Economics has failed in this regard with the naive and often misleading concept of "representative agents." The author presents many insights on the historical development, concepts, and errors made by the most illustrious economists in the past. This book should be essential readings for any economics students as well as academic researchers and policy makers, who should learn to bring back good-sense thinking in their impactful decisions." Didier Sornette, Professor on the Chair of Entrepreneurial Risks at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)

For centuries Japan, although a totalitarian dictatorship, was ruled by figureheads who signed laws formulated 'behind the screen'. Hierarchy still defines everyone's status. The man at the top has power but jeopardizes his position if he ignores consensus opinions. Nowadays fashionable twentieth-century clothing cloaks a contradictory blend of intense competition with a tradition of harmony dependent on close human-relations and complex communal restraint. The Japanese organise themselves in cliques (not groups) which raise barriers against outsiders. Companies are controlled from within; shareholders are outsiders. Women are more than equal in their homes; less than equal at work. After living and managing his own business in Japan for forty years, the author explored widely before coining the term 'competitive communism' to describe Japan's economic and social system.

The monetary system is at a turning point. The question is no longer if, but how soon countries will roll out a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). This book discusses the recomposition of the money supply from the present bank money regime to a monetary system determined by CBDC. As the book sets out, the future of money is going to be digital and sovereign. Nonetheless, the relationship between the various types of money is competitive rather than being the peaceful coexistence that was officially envisaged. CBDC competes with the incumbent bank money as well as with private cryptocurrencies that are challenging both central-bank money as well as bank money. For technological and political reasons, bank money will not be able to emulate the superior properties of sovereign digital tokens. Uncovered and unwarranted cryptocurrencies, too, will not stand the competition in the long run. The shifts in the monetary system are changing the role of central banks in the interplay of monetary, fiscal and private-creditary functions and open up improved options for monetary policy. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and policymakers in monetary and financial economics, and digital currencies.

Most of the people in low and middle-income countries covered by social protection receive assistance in the form of in-kind food. The origin of such support is rooted in countries' historical pursuit of three interconnected objectives, namely attaining self-sufficiency in food, managing domestic food prices, and providing income support to the poor. This volume sheds light on the complex, bumpy and non-linear process of how some flagship food-based social protection programs have evolved over time, and how they currently work. In particular, it lays out the broad trends in reforms, including a growing move from in-kind modalities to cash transfers, from universality to targeting, and from agriculture to social protection. Case studies from Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Sri Lanka, and United States document the specific experiences of managing the process of reform and implementation, including enhancing our understanding of the opportunities and challenges with different social protection transfer modalities.

This open access book is the first attempt to elaborate the formalization phase of banking supervision in eight developed countries-USA, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France, and UK. This innovative study in the field of banking supervision history identifies why national histories of banking supervision share similarities, but also remain different and are heavily path dependent. This book will be of great interest not only to financial/economic historians but also to general readers interested in banking supervision, i.e., students, bankers, supervisors, and international officials.

A new theory to explain the problems Mexico has had in developing a viable market economy is presented in this innovative book. The theory bases the difficulties not on the current popular view of dependency, domestic response to foreign influence, but on Mexican culture and traditions. Armstrong traces patterns of Mexican history and lawmaking from the time of the Spanish conquistadores through the present. He demonstrates that the country has never developed a materialistic culture of egoism and autonomy, necessary in a market economy, but instead reinforces communitarian paternalism. The ideologies imported by the intellegensia (such as nineteenth century liberalism and twentieth century socialism) are shown to have had little impact on Mexico because the implicit premises of these philosophies have been incompatible with social conditions and aspirations in that nation. Armstrong argues that the blend of Spanish and traditional Indian cultures which focus on communitarian and paternalistic attitudes have constricted entrepreneurship, innovation, and commerce.

"Law and Market Society in Mexico" begins in New Spain. The author explores the patterns of land tenure by the conquistadores and collective ownership among the Indians. Both the land and labor in Mexico were generally not articles of commerce, with systems such as mortmain, entail, and debt peonage in place. Current government stewardship is seen as far more intense than the level of regulation the United States has been accustomed to. This perceptive work is ideal for courses on Latin American studies, politics, and history.

Economists broadly define financial asset price bubbles as episodes in which prices rise with notable rapidity and depart from historically established asset valuation multiples and relationships. Financial economists have for decades attempted to study and interpret bubbles through the prisms of rational expectations, efficient markets, equilibrium, arbitrage, and capital asset pricing models, but they have not made much if any progress toward a consistent and reliable theory that explains how and why bubbles (and crashes) evolve and are defined, measured, and compared. This book develops a new and different approach that is based on the central notion that bubbles and crashes reflect urgent short-side rationing, which means that, as such extreme conditions unfold, considerations of quantities owned or not owned begin to displace considerations of price.

This book identifies that problems that China must face to develop its economy and elucidates the structural deficiencies which lay behind these problems. Chinese economy compared with other economies in the world. The book also analyzes China's present economic situation and, where possible, provides prescriptions for solving its problems by comparing it with the Japanese development experience.

Latin America is in the midst of dramatic transformations. Stabilization and structural adjustment programs are dismantling state regulation of the economy. Democratic transitions are pointing toward the emergence of new institutional arrangements. Democratization and market-oriented economic restructuring pose major questions concerning new social configurations combining rising levels of poverty, low intensity citizenship, environmental degradation, and enduring legacies of elite privilege and authoritarianism. Analyzing these and related issues, this volume contributes to a world-system perspective suggesting that the region is experiencing a great transformation characterized by a deepening differentiation between state, enterprises, and households. Emergent patterns of competition and organizational change are discussed along with the social consequences of restructuring and the potential for political transformation.

New economic thinking is in demand in the light of the recent crisis. But it is constrained by the prevailing way of thinking about the economy and about economics. This book equips the reader with a better understanding of current thinking and increases awareness of other possibilities. This selection of essays provides the foundations for debate at the levels of methodology and mode of thought; not only does awareness at these levels increase mutual understanding, making debate more constructive and increasing the possibilities for creative new developments, but it also puts the onus on economists to communicate and defend their own approach. This collection builds up these foundations and addresses particular issues, such as differences in meaning of key concepts. These issues have important practical implications for theory and policy.

This book studies China's international relations, development strategies and development path. It provides an objective and in-depth analysis of areas including international relations in the context of China's population and resource environment, ways to strengthen China's external competitiveness, strategies for economic security and China's trade currency, Sino-US relations in the 21st Century, geopolitical strategy and great renaissance of Chinese culture. The book analyzes the difficulties, challenges and unique features of China's economic and social development. Further, it examines long-term and short-term social and economic issues as well as the difficulties in dealing with the issues. It provides objective and realistic suggestions for realizing China's dream of the great rejuvenation of the nation. It is a valuable source of reference for researchers and practitioners interested in China's development.

In this book, leading experts take a long-term view of the trends and policies of most relevance in achieving the structural readjustment required by the current crisis, which for too long has been viewed merely as an economic recession. A wide variety of issues are addressed, including the implications of the massive movement of wealth from advanced countries to emerging ones and the increasing income inequality evident within many countries. Prospects for growth toward the mid-century and beyond are discussed, with consideration of lessons from the past and the impact of various constraints, including corruption. The policies and reforms required to restore economic dynamism within the EU and more generally, to foster the "Good Economy" are discussed, recognizing the need for measures to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, well-being and high levels of environmental performance. The book comprises a selection of contributions presented at the XXV Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar. For the past quarter of a century, this seminar has brought together leading experts to engage in debates on pressing economic questions. This book, based on the most recent gathering, will be of interest to all who are concerned about the challenges to growth, well-being and social inclusion that will have to be confronted in the coming decades.

How a country competes in the world is the crucial factor in determining that country's ability to benefit from international trade in today's global economy. This book offers a complete and proper understanding of the meaning of international competitiveness, analyzes the implications it holds for an economy's progress, examines how it may be pursued and sustained at both the sectoral level (firms and industries) and the national level (strategic objectives). The author offers pertinent policy guidelines and prescriptions for how a nation can achieve and maintain international competitiveness in order to sustain the long-term prosperity of its industries, and hence the overall pace of economic growth.

The book is arranged into three parts. Part I discusses and defines the theories of international competitiveness. Part II deals with policy issues, specifically the policy analysis of structural reforms for promoting a country's ability to compete, the impact of globalization and the role of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), strategic trade policies, and environmental issues. Part III analyzes the strategies used to pursue competitiveness. The book will be useful for researchers, students, and teachers of business and economics as well as policy makers, business practitioners, and international and governmental agencies.

There is no better guide than Paul Krugman to basic economics, the ideas that animate much of our public policy. Likewise, there is no better foe of zombie economics, the misunderstandings that just won't die. Arguing with Zombies is Krugman "the most hated and most admired columnist in the US" (Martin Wolf, Financial Times) at his best, turning readers into intelligent consumers of the daily news with quick, vivid sketches of the key concepts behind taxes, health care, international trade and more. In this new book, in which he builds on and expands his The New York Times columns and other writings, "the most celebrated economist of his generation" (The Economist), offers short, accessible chapters on topics including the European Union and Brexit, the fight for national health care in the United States, the financial meltdown of 2007-2008, the attack on Social Security and the fraudulent argument-the ultimate zombie-that tax cuts for the rich will benefit all.

Free banking is a term that refers to the total deregulation of the banking industry. It signifies an absence of such constraints as reserve requirements, capital requirements, government deposit insurance, and limitations on branching. Above all, it means that private banks would be allowed to issue their own currency. This book takes a fresh approach to that controversial topic. Sechrest proposes that free banking constitutes the final vindication of Say's Law, that the optimal monetary goal, monetary equilibrium, can only be achieved under free banking, that the monetarist and Austrian business cycle theories are complementary, and that the most likely form of free banking will be that in which banks issue specie-convertible notes and hold fractional reserves.

After defining free banking the author explains why he adopts the well known White-Selgin model. He then discusses the key characteristics of laissez-faire banks, which form the basis for a formal model, complete with graphs, which may be used in the classroom. The unique relationship between the market for money and the market for time that exists under free banking suggests that business cycles will be minimized under such a regime. That relationship also leads to the insight that the Austrian and monetarist cycle theories are really two sides of the same coin. New evidence is presented that leads the author to the conclusion that both Lawrence White's portrayal of Scottish free banking and the traditional image of American free banking are exaggerated. Three different basic models of free banking are then reviewed in detail and critiqued. Finally, the author suggests both some possible topics for future research and that free banking is desirable socially and politically as well as economically.

A collection of articles presented at the XLVI Applied Econometrics Association conference on exchange rates held in Heigerloch Castle, Germany), in 1995. The book consists of three parts examining the experience of the exchange rate in Europe. In the first part some aspects of exchange rate determination in Europe are examined; the second part deals with the exchange rate policy within the European Monetary System; in the third part an analysis of recent intervention practices in the European exchange rate markets is presented.