This book explores the opportunities and limits of currency cooperation in East Asia. Currency issues play an important role in the region. The Asian crisis of the late 90s was rooted in deficient currency arrangements. The Chinese RMB is not freely convertible yet, but policymakers in China nevertheless aim for a more international role of the Chinese currency. The recent change of direction in Japanese monetary policy caused a drastic depreciation of the Yen and led to warnings against a possible "currency war", thus demonstrating that currency issues can also easily lead to political frictions. Most trade in and with the East Asian zone on the other hand is still conducted in US $. Against this background different modes of currency cooperation serve the goal of smoothing exchange rate fluctuations and capital flows. They are an important element to promote financial stability and to reduce the transaction cost for foreign trade or investment. The contributions of this book analyze the environment and design of currency cooperation in East Asia and their effects from a macro-and microeconomic viewpoint.

As the shock of the 2008 European financial crisis begins to subside, it is time for scholars to step back and analyze the crisis's causes and effects from a multidisciplinary vantage point. Europe in Crisis examines the current state of the European economy, society, and polity, both on the theoretical and political levels, by placing special emphasis on its current crisis. With important contributions from heterodox economists and radical social and political scientists, this innovative new edited collection seeks to evaluate past efforts and policies (mainly since World War II), criticize the failed neoclassical/neoliberal perspectives, and offer alternative strategies and policies to Europe's socioeconomic impasse and misery.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Written by two expert economists, this comprehensive Advanced Introduction provides a thorough and up-to-date analysis of central banks and monetary policy, analysing the ways in which views about monetary policy have developed and changed. Key Features: Provides a historical overview of the gestation of the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, and the European Central Bank Analyses the processes involved in monetary policymaking, including strategy reviews, policy instruments, and central bank communication, whilst considering financial stability and crisis management Concludes with a look towards the future challenges faced by central banks, including the low interest rate environment and the greening of central bank policies Accessible and informative, this Advanced Introduction will prove a vital resource to students and scholars of economics and finance. It will also prove invaluable to practitioners and policymakers interested in financial sector supervision and regulation in central banks.

This book brings together leading economists from continental Europe, the U.S. and the U.K. to examine the slow growth and other problems experienced by the Eurozone in it's early years, and the challenges which is now faces. The authors investigate the operation of monetary and fiscal policy in the Eurozone, the extent of structural reform and the reasons for it, and other topics from the possible inflation increases in the 2002 notes and coin changeover to financial integration.

This book studies the sustainability and optimality of public debt under different scenarios: the closed economy, the small open economy, and a two-country setting. Sustainability refers to the existence and the stability of the long-run equilibrium. Optimality relates to the path of public debt that maximizes discounted utility. The analysis is conducted within the framework of the Solow model, the overlapping generations model and the infinite horizon model. The government can follow different strategies, it either fixes the deficit ratio or the tax rate. As a result, a fixed deficit ratio generally can be sustained. By contrast, a fixed tax rate generally cannot be sustained. Depending on the chosen fiscal strategy, there exists either an optimal deficit ratio or an optimal tax rate that maximizes the sum of consumption and government purchases per capita.

A careful basic theoretical and econometric analysis of the factors determining the real exchange rates of Canada, the U.K., Japan, France and Germany with respect to the United States is conducted. The resulting conclusion is that real exchange rates are almost entirely determined by real factors relating to growth and technology such as oil and commodity prices, international allocations of world investment across countries, and underlying terms of trade changes. Unanticipated money supply shocks, calculated in five alternative ways have virtually no effects. A Blanchard-Quah VAR analysis also indicates that the effects of real shocks predominate over monetary shocks by a wide margin. The implications of these facts for the conduct of monetary policy in countries outside the U.S. are then explored leading to the conclusion that all countries, to avoid exchange rate overshooting, have tended to automatically follow the same monetary policy as the United States. The history of world monetary policy is reviewed along with the determination of real exchange rates within the Euro Area.

This valuable book examines the interaction between economic ideas and the policy-making process in Europe, centred around the creation of European Monetary Union. The essays cover three broad areas: early debates on European monetary integration, economic thought at the European Community institutions, and the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe. Core elements of the book are analyses of Europe's quest for exchange rate stability and of the debates on the nature of EMU and the path towards it. With the aid of crucial case studies, Ivo Maes goes on to chart the growing awareness among policymakers of the increasing interdependence between Europe's economies and the rise of a new medium-term, stability-oriented policy conception - both vital and necessary factors in the genesis of EMU. Drawing on the extensive experience of the author, both as an academic and a senior official involved in European economic policy-making, this book undoubtedly contributes towards a better understanding of the role of economic ideas in the process of European monetary integration. It will be an important addition to the literature on EMU and will be required reading for scholars and policymakers in the fields of economics, European studies and the history of economic thought.

The European Economic and Monetary Union comprises twelve member states and forms a currency area of considerable size and, until now, remarkable stability. Still, however, discussion is going on whether it can survive as an institution providing the highest degree of monetary integration which is a single monetary policy for a group of member countries with divergent economic performance. It is also questioned whether it can withstand financial crises in international markets and contribute to the stability of the global financial system. The book addresses these questions with special emphasis on the need for new forms of economic policy coordination.

Foreign exchange black markets in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica and Peru were studied during the period 1990-93. This group of case studies presents a broad view of the phenomenon in Latin America at the beginning of the 1990s. This is not a traditional economic analysis of foreign exchange markets, for many reasons. Most importantly, since black markets are illegal by definition, they are not recorded in offical statistics and the participants are not easily identified. Nevertheless, these markets are often widely used and well known to people living in the Latin American countries, so it is possible to paint a reasonably accurate picture of them. The work is based largely on interviews with black market participants in each country. This primary means of collecting information was desirable because of the general lack of published sources of data or other records; though published information was also used when available. The book discusses foreign exchange black markets from a variety of perspectives, looking at who participates in them, how they function, and what impacts they have on local economies.

This book examines the objectives of public debt management and the re-emerging issue of separating monetary policy formulation from fiscal and debt management. The recent Great Recession has resulted in a rethink of the objectives and working of macroeconomics, and in many countries, including India, has led to the scope of fiscal operations being expanded and debt-to-GDP ratios increasing significantly. Consequently, debt management has encountered considerable difficulties, and the need for coordination between monetary and debt management has assumed greater significance. The book discusses the important issue of the independence of central banks and the need for coordination between debt managers, monetary authorities and finance ministries if debt operations are separated from monetary management.

This text addresses the understanding and alleviation of poverty, inequality, and inequity using a unique and broad mix of concepts, measurement methods, statistical tools, software, and practical exercises. Most of the book's measurement and statistical tools have been programmed in DAD, a well established and widely available free software program that has been tailored especially for income distribution analysis and is used by scholars, researchers, and analysts in nearly 100 countries worldwide. It requires basic understanding of calculus and statistics. There are examples and exercises using real data.

This book provides an account of the principal phases in the development of the English banking system, and goes on to analyse the financial structure of the economy of the UK. The book focuses in detail on the regulatory and supervisory aspects of the UK banking system, and the interactions between the structural aspects of the banking and supervisory system.

The collection considers several aspects of the transformation of the former state socialist countries: social and economic outcomes; forces in the transformation process; problems of consolidation of the new regimes; and alternative scenarios. Comparisons are made between the successful central European countries now members of the European Union with those of the former Soviet Union. The impact of the collapse of the USSR and the course of transformation is considered on China, Cuba, and North Korean. The book also contemplates the alternative types of society that might replace state socialism, particularly state capitalism and market socialism.

Financial capital, whether mediated through the financial market or Foreign Direct Investment has been a key factor in European economic growth. This book examines the interaction between European and global financial integration and analyses the dynamics of the monetary sector and the real economy in Europe. The key analytical focus is on the theoretical and empirical dynamics of financial markets in Europe, however, it also provides regional case studies of key institutional developments and lessons from foreign direct investment. There is a broad range of findings for Central, Eastern and Western Europe as well as EU Partner Countries. Crucially the analysis includes new approaches and options for solving the transatlantic banking crisis and suggests policy innovations for a world with unstable financial markets.

This book is the outcome of the international symposium on 'Economic Integration in Asia and India' held in Tokyo, Japan, on Decemeber 8, 2005.
In the flow of globalization in the world economies, the regional economic integrations which have been progressing institutionally in the EU and Americas are now substantially under way among countries in Asia, including Japan, Korea, China and the ASEAN countries. India has also taken steps on the passage towards economic integration. India's full-scale participation in the Asian market will affect other East Asian countries, which in turn will also have manifold influences on India. This book aims to trigger a wider examination of Asian economic integration.

This book explores the role of political factors in the occurrence of currency crises, using an eclectic approach that blends case studies, a rigorous theoretical discussion, and econometric analysis.

Alfred Marshall has traditionally been listed alongside pioneering 'neoclassical' economists. In this volume, Neil Hart challenges this view, illuminating the ambiguities within Marshall's work, and exploring his reconciliation of two modes of thinking, equilibrium economics and evolutionary economics.

Collecting Nobel Laureate William S. Vickrey's articles on macroeconomic theory and policy written towards the end of his career, this volume demonstrates his enduring commitment to full employment and price stability, and his rejection of conventional macroeconomic theorizing. William Vickrey never lost hope that sensible macroeconomic policy could be understood and implemented, a faith inspired by his humanistic vision of a better world for all and his belief that common sense would ultimately prevail. Advocating sensible economic policies, this collection will offer much of value to heterodox and orthodox economists, graduate economics students and also policymakers.

This book examines alternative economic policies for the European Union in the aftermath of the rejection of the European Constitution. The subject range includes macroeconomic policy and the European Constitution, EU financial integration, the reform of European regional policy, assessment and alternative proposals on European structural policies and labour market policies in the European Union.

The contributors present theoretical and empirical advances on business cycles analysis with particular attention to Euro-zone characteristics. The book also identifies applications of sophisticated tools by private and public institutions involved in the analysis of economic fluctuations.

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe have begun an unprecedented process of rapid change in their political, economic, and social characters. Using a unique comparative perspective, this volume brings together leading scholars from the United States and Eastern Europe to describe and analyze the political democratization and economic decentralization in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, and the fragmenting Soviet Union. The contributors explore the pace of democratic transformation in each country and find that political democracy has outpaced the development of a market economy, and that these transformations have considerable social costs. They also reveal the different levels of risk for Western investors that each country holds. They conclude that each of these countries will eventually develop a market economy consistent with its needs and desires, much different from the U.S. model. Shama's analysis includes observations on the abortive coup attempt in Moscow in August 1991, making this an up-to-date and relevant study of the present highly volatile situation in the region.

The volume starts with a look at perestroika and glasnost in a comparative framework of economic and political restructuring. Perestroika and the implications for the future of the states in the Soviet Union are then explored. Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia are also analyzed in terms of the accomplishments of their political and economic transformations. The case of East Germany receives special attention. The concluding chapter includes a systematic comparison of the above countries as well as Yugoslavia and Romania. Students and scholars of international politics and economics as well as management experts will find this book useful in understanding the recent changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Financial markets are not predictable, let alone controllable. The one thing traders and investors can control is their trading tactics, where some can have higher probability of profitability than others. This book explains, by using phase analysis, why some of the indicators, and trading tactics would work better than others, and why some indicators and trading tactics would perform poorly. Emphasis is placed on Awesome Oscillator and Accelerator Oscillator, which are based on Simple Moving Average, a popular tool employed by traders. They are then compared to Moving Average Convergence-Divergence (MACD) and MACD Histogram (MACDH), which are based on exponential moving averages. By varying the parameters of MACD and MACDH, one can change the phase or time delay, and possibly make a larger profit. This book is for practitioners, and includes all MATLAB programs used in the book.

Capitalizing on the extensive experience of the author in estimating shadow prices, Shadow Prices for Project Appraisal forges a bridge between theory and practice, explaining what shadow (or accounting) prices are, how they are used, and how they can be estimated. Starting from the basic principles of applied welfare economics, Elio Londero's book provides a step by step derivation of those formulas more frequently utilized in estimating shadow prices. The preparation and use of input-output techniques are examined in detail, and different estimation approaches and updating procedures are presented. Finally, a detailed case study of shadow prices for Colombia illustrates their practical application. This book will be essential reading for students and teachers interested in cost-benefit analysis, and in shadow prices as a specialized field of applied welfare economics. In addition, the book will be an invaluable source for applied economists and practitioners interested in calculating shadow prices.

Volatility is very much with us in today's equity markets. Day-to-day price swings are often large and intra-day volatility elevated, especially at market openings and closings. What explains this? What does this say about the quality of our markets? Can short-period volatility be controlled by better market design and a more effective use of electronic technology? Featuring insights from an international array of prominent academics, financial markets experts, policymakers and journalists, the book addresses these and other questions concerning this timely topic. In so doing, we seek deeper knowledge of the dynamic process of price formation, and of the market structure and regulatory environment within which our markets function.

The Zicklin School of Business Financial Markets Series presents the insights emerging from a sequence of conferences hosted by the Zicklin School at Baruch College for industry professionals, regulators, and scholars. Much more than historical documents, the transcripts from the conferences are edited for clarity, perspective and context; material and comments from subsequent interviews with the panelists and speakers are integrated for a complete thematic presentation. Each book is focused on a well delineated topic, but all deliver broader insights into the quality and efficiency of the U.S. equity markets and the dynamic forces changing them.