Money laundering is a problem of some magnitude internationally and has long term negative economic impacts. Brigitte Unger argues that today, money laundering is largely linked to fraud and that it is not only small islands and tax havens which launder, but increasingly, industrialized countries like the US, Australia, The Netherlands and the UK. Well established financial markets and growing economies with sound political and social structures attract launderers in the same way as they attract honest capital. The book gives an interdisciplinary overview of the state-of-the-art of money laundering as well as describing the legal problems of defining and fighting money laundering. It then goes on to present a number of economic models designed to measure money laundering and applies these to measuring the size of laundering in The Netherlands and Australia. The book also gives an overview of techniques and potential effects of money laundering identified and measured so far in the literature. It adds to this debate by calculating the effects of laundering on crime and economic growth. This book will be of great interest to lawyers, financial experts, economists, political scientists, as well as to government ministries, international and national organizations and central banks.

The literature of monetary economics has been characterised by controversy and changes in the received wisdom throughout its history. The controversies have related not merely to the effects on incomes and prices of changes in the money supply, but even to the question of whether causality runs from money to incomes and prices or vice versa. This book begins with the pioneering work of the sixteenth century French writer Jean Bodin, followed by the celebrated John Law, and John Locke (and his eighteenth century critics). It considers both the theory and the evidence involved in the controversy between the Currency and Banking schools. Closely related to this was the work of two writers, Thomas Joplin and Walter Bagehot, both of whom provided perspectives strikingly different from those of the main controversialists and, in so doing, advanced the subject of monetary economics. The book seeks, through the examination of monetary controversies, to provide an historical perspective on modern understanding of monetary policy. It will be essential reading for economists with an interest in monetary economics and the history of economic thought.

Rutger Hoekstra examines the complex relationship between the monetary economy and the materials flows that are extracted and emitted by economic activities. These physical flows are responsible for many important environmental problems such as unsustainable resource depletion, waste production and climate change. This book discusses, applies and improves upon techniques which link the monetary and physical economies for environmental analyses. The book uses two sources of analysis: the physical input-output table (PIOT), a macro-economic account for the physical economy, recording material and product flows, including resource extraction, emissions and recycling; and structural decomposition analysis (SDA), which assesses the influence of structural changes, such as economic growth, consumption shifts, export growth and technological change, on environmental indicators. Methodological improvements in the PIOT and SDA systems are then presented by the author, and applied to empirical data. Ecological and industrial economists, along with those with an interest in environmental problems associated with the economy will find this book, with its extensive historical analysis and novel fore- and back-casting models, to be a fascinating read.

This influential volume, which has been revised and updated for the twenty-first century, includes both new material and more detailed expositions of existing arguments. Although so-called 'real' theories of business cycles and growth are prevalent in contemporary mainstream economics, Controversies in Monetary Economics suggests that those economists who have instinctively focused on monetary factors in explaining macroeconomic behaviour are more genuinely 'realistic'. The author combines an explanation of past and present monetary controversy with practical proposals for the conduct of monetary policy in the contemporary global economy. Several alternative approaches are discussed, ranging from the traditional quantity theory to post Keynesian theories of endogenous money. This insightful book will be of interest to all those concerned with monetary economics and macroeconomics, including academic researchers, graduate and senior undergraduate students - particularly those looking for an alternative to current economic orthodoxy - and historians of economic thought. Practitioners in central banks, international financial institutions, the financial markets and finance ministries will also find this work invaluable.

All the major financial centres have experienced a rise in anti-money laundering rules and regulations. Initially, anti-money laundering laws were used as a weapon in the war on drugs, whilst more recently they have been deployed in the ongoing fight against terrorism. These developments, the authors reveal, have had serious consequences for banks and other financial institutions - affecting not only profit margins but also the way in which business is conducted. Topical and pertinent issues addressed in this book include questions such as, has all the recent legislative activity really put a stop to the problem? Are the international rules being implemented as carefully as they should? How level is the playing field in cross border banking? The regimes and implementation of anti-money laundering laws and regulations of four major, cross border, financial centres are also examined in depth: Switzerland, Singapore, the UK, and the USA. Going beyond the purely descriptive, there are comparative analyses of these countries against existing international standards - with illuminating results. This new book is full of original insight and analysis and will be an invaluable resource for lawyers, both scholarly and practitioner based, with an interest in economic crime as well as policymakers and compliance officers within banks and other financial institutions.

Lombard Street is Walter Bagehot's famous explanation of the England central banking system established during the 19th century. At the time Bagehot wrote, the United Kingdom was at the peak of its influence. The Bank of England in London, was one of the most powerful institutions in the world. Working as an economist at the time, Walter Bagehot sets about explaining how the British government and the Bank of England interact. Leading on from this, he explains how the Bank of England and other banks - the Joint-Stock and Private banking companies - do the business of finance. Bagehot is not afraid to admit that life at the bank is usually quite boring, albeit punctuated by short periods of sudden excitement. The sudden boom of a market, or sudden fluctuations in the credit system, can create an excited demand for money. The eruption of an economic depression, which Bagehot aptly notes is rapidly contagious around different sectors of the economy, can also make working in the bank a lot less tedious.

East Asian countries - currently the most dynamic region of the global economy - have recently pursued trade liberalization through the adoption of various forms of bilateral and plurilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The book explores the key issues and possible outcomes arising from this departure from the region's traditional multilateral approach to trade liberalization. Implications of this new approach for the region as a whole, and key participating individual economies and blocs of economies, are emphasized. New East Asian Regionalism includes up-to-date analysis of the most recent developments in FTAs between countries in East Asia, as well as those involving countries from outside the region. Furthermore, the book includes invaluable projections on economic and welfare outcomes of regional trade agreements, using the very latest empirical techniques, and data. The book also considers the implications arising from closer financial integration in the region. This book will be warmly welcomed by scholars of regional science, international economics and business, as well as Asian studies. Policymakers at both the national government and international organization level will also find this book of great interest.

All Fall Down traces the ways in which changes in financial structure and regulation eroded monetary control and led to historically high levels of debt relative to GDP in both developed and emerging economies. Rising stocks of debt drove the global financial system into crisis in 2008 when households, businesses, financial institutions and the public sector in some countries strained to generate sufficient income for debt service. The stagnation and fall in asset prices that followed began the process of unwinding that led to a run on the financial sector by the financial sector. This engaging examination describes critical developments that changed the structure of US financial markets as well as developments and innovations in US credit markets that created the context for crisis. It discusses the advent of dollar hegemony, the critical role of international reserves in generating credit, the emergence of the debt bubble in the 1980s and the mounting risks of debt in the new millennium. The author also proposes a systemic approach to monetary control, offering two new reform proposals. The analysis concludes that reforms are needed in order to support sustainable economic activity in the US and global economies. This volume will appeal to students and scholars of economics interested in international finance and banking, financial regulation and monetary policy implementation. It will also be of interest to business economists, lawyers, policymakers and journalists concerned with the effects of financial instability and involved in ongoing debates on financial and monetary reform.

Post-Keynesian Growth Theory is the second volume of Marc Lavoie's Selected Essays, and is a collection of 18 articles published between 1995 and 2020, on themes touching growth and distribution. The book contains an extended foreword by Eckhard Hein, and an introduction by Lavoie that recalls how he became attracted to post-Keynesian growth theory more than 45 years ago, and explains how and why this book came about. The collection includes a number of papers showing Lavoie's evolving approach to neo-Kaleckian models of growth and distribution, incorporating hysteresis, overhead labour, monetary issues, price inflation, as well as various sources of autonomous non-capacity creating expenditures. It shows how all of these interact with alternative Marxian or Sraffian approaches as well. A section of the book is also devoted to two-sector models, in particular the issue of the traverse from one equilibrium to another, extending the Kaleckian model but also providing insights into the works of Hicks and Pasinetti. Both professors and graduate students will benefit from the decades of experience and wisdom amassed and presented in Post-Keynesian Growth Theory.

Now in its third incarnation, this widely acclaimed and popular text has again been fully updated and revised by the author. There is a bewildering array of models to explain the volatility of exchange rates since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in the early 1970s. It is therefore invaluable that Hans Visser is able to bring method to this 'model madness' by grouping the various theories according to the time period for which their explanation is relevant, and further subdividing them according to their assumptions as to price flexibility and international financial asset substitutability. A Guide to International Monetary Economics is a systematic overview of exchange rate theories, an analysis of exchange rate systems and a discussion of exchange rate policies including discussion of the obstacles that may confront policymakers while running any particular system. This third edition emphasises recent developments such as the creation and expansion of the euro and the radical solution of dollarisation. The book is a concise treatment of this complex field and does not encumber the reader with a surfeit of potentially distracting institutional details. As with previous editions, the emphasis is on the economic reasoning behind the formulae while introducing students to the mathematics that will enable them to pursue further reading. This book is aimed at postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in general and international economics and international finance, as well as business management scholars and researchers specialising in finance. Professional economists wishing to bring up to date their knowledge of the subject will also find much within this book of value to them.

In the global financial crisis, competitiveness gaps between Euro area countries caused additional strain. This book discusses the various dimensions of competitiveness, with a special focus on emerging Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries. For Europe to proceed with convergence and to resist global competitive pressures, it argues that policies to boost productivity and innovation are vital. With products becoming ever more technically sophisticated and global interconnectedness on a relentless rise, it also demonstrates that quality, customer orientation and participation in global production networks and global value chains are at least as important as relative costs and prices. This book delves into the literature and dissects the complexity of competitiveness, aiming to offer tangible policy advice focussed on how well the European economy is performing and how it could improve. The key findings of the book, from a mix of academics and policymakers, constitute a state-of-the-art assessment of competitiveness that may change traditional perceptions of how economies can return to a path of sustainable growth. Comprehensive and forward-looking, this enlightening book will appeal to academics, researchers and policymakers with a particular interest in European economies and economic integration. Contributors include: D. Andrews, B.B. Bakker, I. Begg, M. Belka, K. Benkovskis, Z. Darvas, A. de Serres, M. Gradzewicz, D. Hanzl-Weiss, B.S. Javorcik, A. Kosior, K. Krogulski, M. Landesmann, E. Nowotny, B. Pinto, D. Ritzberger Grunwald, M. Rubaszek, P. Samecki, M. Silgoner, P. Sinclair, K. Vondra, B. Vujcic, J. Woerz, L. Yueh

This book is unique in providing the first full English translation of Menger's seminal article Geld - one of the most influential papers on the origin of money. The editors aim to facilitate a broader and more detailed discussion of Menger's method, theory and findings with this translation and in depth analysis. Menger's institutional approach is applied and extended to the analysis of the evolution of payments systems, focusing in particular on electronic money, on its institutional character, and on monetary policy as well as predictions of likely future developments. Carl Menger and the Evolution of Payments Systems will be of great interest to financial economists and Austrian economists as well as historians of economic thought.

Philipp Maier offers a unique examination of the extent to which governments and various interest groups have exerted pressure on central banks. The book looks in particular at the Deutsche Bundesbank - which acted as the blueprint for the European Central Bank (ECB) - and utilises an original set of indicators to measure external pressure and support from the government and other institutions. The author demonstrates that although some of the rhetoric of the Bundesbank may have been a response to political pressure, the operation and conduct of German monetary policy has not been influenced. The role of various pressure groups remains a more contentious issue, as there is evidence that the Bundesbank may have acted to appease the financial sector. The author also finds that a high degree of public support towards the Bundesbank has helped to mitigate the effect of external forces. As the ECB was closely modelled on its German counterpart, the author is able to extend his analysis to the European level and draw out explicit predictions for the ECB. He argues that external pressure is unlikely to influence the conduct of monetary policy, as it will be less efficient and organised, and public support is likely to be high. In the future, however, this could be jeopardised by a rapid enlargement of EMU which may result in more concentrated and powerful pressure groups. This interesting empirical study of the effect of governments, interest groups and public support on the behaviour and rhetoric of Central Banks will be welcomed by financial and monetary economists, students and scholars of European finance and European policymakers.

This book unites diverse heterodox traditions in the study of endogenous money - which until now have been confined to their own academic quarters - and explores their similarities and differences from both sides of the Atlantic. Bringing together perspectives from post-Keynesians, Circuitists and the Dijon School, the book continues the tradition of Keynes's and Kalecki's analysis of a monetary production economy, emphasising the similarities between the various approaches, and expanding the analytical breadth of the theory of endogenous money. The authors open new avenues for monetary research in order to fuel a renewed interest in the nature and role of money in capitalist economies, which is, the authors argue, one of the most controversial, and therefore fascinating, areas of economics. Providing new theoretical and empirical grounds for the construction of a general, policy oriented theory of money, this thought-provoking collection will appeal to academics, researchers and students interested in monetary economics. It will also be welcomed by monetary policymakers and central bank officials.

Is the theory of money that underlies most modern macroeconomics well-grounded? What determines the value of a currency, and how is the state's power over its currency related to its ability to stabilize prices and employment? Charles Goodhart's classic paper 'The Two Concepts of Money: Implications for the Analysis of Optimal Currency Areas' which first raised these questions is reprinted here, and the distinguished authors expand its line of argument and comment on its central themes. The issues discussed are of fundamental importance in contemporary monetary theory and policy. The State, the Market and the Euro presents two sharply contrasting theories of money - Chartalist and Metallist - and the resulting equally sharply contrasting approaches to macroeconomic policy. Academic monetary, financial and political economists will find this book of great interest as will policymakers, financial analysts and journalists.