Financial intermediation is currently a subject of active research on both sides of the Atlantic. The integration of European financial markets, in particular, highlights several important issues. In this volume, derived from a joint CEPR conference with the Fundacion Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV), leading academics from Europe and North America review 'state-of-the-art' theories of banking and financial intermediation and discuss their policy implications. The principal focus is on the risks of increased competition, the appropriate regulation of banks, and the differences between Anglo-American and Continental European forms of financial markets. Relationship banking, stock markets and banks, banking and corporate control, financial intermediation in Eastern Europe, monetary policy and the banking system, and financial intermediation and growth are also discussed.

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the debate on the reform of the international monetary system (IMS) has gained new momentum. It questioned the desirability of the current system's excessive reliance on the US dollar despite the fact that the US financial system has proven to be less than perfect, and US monetary policy stance has not been in tune with the business cycle of the rest of the world. However, attempts to reform the IMF or strengthen regional safety nets have not produced material results. With the challenges in the euro area persisting, the dollar is very likely to stay as the main reserve currency for the foreseeable future.Against this background, this book prescribes concrete steps on how to shape an alternative monetary system that will be a win-win solution to all without having to strike an international agreement on a new global governance structure. It proposes to use the RMB - already in motion to become an international currency - to become the third pillar without the need for China to open its capital account prematurely.For policy makers, this book will help them rethink how they can approach the problems facing the IMS. For the general readers, it will offer them a comprehensive view on what the international monetary system is about, what the problems are, and how these problems can be addressed. In particular, it will equip them with a better sense of what currencies they will need to carry when traveling around the world, or in what currencies they should hold their wealth in the coming decades.

The success as well as the recent misfortunes of the post-war Japanese economy has been one of the most debated points in economics. Many explanations focus on cultural and institutional factors, and in particular the role of "Informality" in networks organizing business activity and government policy. This book provides the first quantitative and qualitative assessment of Informality in the formation of Japanese monetary policy. The author spent two years at the Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies at the Bank of Japan and the Japanese Ministry of Finance and offers a unique "insider-outsider" perspective.

While oil price fluctuations in the past can be explained by pure supply factors, this book argues that it is monetary policy that plays a significant role in setting global oil prices. It is a key factor often neglected in much of the earlier literature on the determinants of asset prices, including oil prices. However, this book presents a framework for modeling oil prices while incorporating monetary policy. It also provides a complete theoretical basis of the determinants of crude oil prices and the transmission channels of oil shocks to the economy. Moreover, using several up-to-date surveys and examples from the real world, this book gives insight into the empirical side of energy economics. The empirical studies offer explanations for the impact of monetary policy on crude oil prices in different periods including during the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008-2009, the impact of oil price variations on developed and emerging economies, the effectiveness of monetary policy in the Japanese economy incorporating energy prices, and the macroeconomic impacts of oil price movements in trade-linked cases. This must-know information on energy economics is presented in a reader-friendly format without being overloaded with excessive and complicated calculations. enUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>

The aftermath of the US subprime mortgage crisis in 2008 saw its influence spread around the world, including Europe. The European crisis turned out to be longer, deeper and more resilient than anticipated. An unexpected consequence was the increasingly divergent economic and financial situation of two main groups of countries within the Eurozone, which includes the countries that adopt the euro as their common currency. The divergence was caused by a number of factors, fundamentally stemming from the dissimilar economic and financial situation of its member countries and from the incomplete institutional architecture and the monetary and fiscal policies in the Eurozone.One Currency, Two Europes: Towards a Dual Eurozone seeks to explore these factors which give rise to the Eurozone's asymmetric composition and the growing difficulties and ineffectiveness that policies meet. It presents evidence to show how the presently incomplete institutional architecture of the Eurozone is the main reason for the extreme detrimental effects of the international crisis and austerity policies, along with the asymmetric economic situation and the insufficient mutual trust demonstrated by the vulnerable as well as resilient countries.Other than presenting a complete overview and analysis of the events that unfolded in the Eurozone as a result of the financial crisis that first emerged in the US, this book also suggests possible solutions which could help to reunify the Eurozone, and make the common currency sustainable and beneficial for all member countries. One Currency, Two Europes will be useful for policymakers who want to learn from the Eurozone's experience with the financial crisis and the importance of complete institutional architectures and inter-country economic convergence. It will also serve as a reference to students and researchers who would like more in-depth analysis of the crisis and the Eurozone's fiscal, monetary and institutional past, present, and future.

Most works on John Maynard Keynes deal with his General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money and his theory of unemployment. Much less well-known are his publications on money, finance, and international trade. This book fills that void by providing an analysis of Keynes' works from "Indian Currency and Finance" to "The Proposal for a Currency Union." It seeks to show that his concerns extended beyond his magnum opus to include the monetary and financial concerns of Great Britain and the world at large.

A pioneering work in comparative monetary and financial studies, this is the first international comparative, empirical study of the money supply process (MSP) that involves all of the basic types of economies and institutional economic systems at all levels of economic development. As the authors note at the outset, the highly relative nature of the MSP contributes to wide differences in the MSP in different types of economies. Yet the MSP is one of the most important topics of both monetary theory and monetary practice. The comparative approach adopted here enables the authors to explain the differences that do occur in the MSP across economies and what causes them. By properly defining the general theory and overall monetary theory of MSP, the authors offer the reader both a better understanding of the national MSP and a broad framework of possibilities for improving the efficiency of monetary policy.

The authors begin by describing their approach to an analysis of the MSP in national economies and the concepts and models used in this analysis. They then explain the classification of economies used in the study and their methodological approach, which is based on a two-dimensional flow of funds accounts matrix. Four chapters present the empirical evidence derived from this approach. Included are both a holistic analysis and a structural comparative analysis of the MSP. A separate chapter presents a comparative analysis involving 100 countries of the MSP during the 1978-83 time period. Finally, the authors look at the influence of the balance-of-payments and of domestic institutional sectors on the MSP. Their concluding chapters summarize their findings and point the way to further research in this area. Scholars and policymakers in economics, macroeconomics, and monetary policy will find this an illuminating addition to the literature of the money supply process.

A pioneering exploration of the relevance of economic theory to the practical realities of the foreign exchange market, this volume presents a well-reasoned, comprehensive examination of the degree to which economic theories and forecasts are helpful in predicting exchange rates. Douch, an economist who has worked closely with the foreign exchange market, argues that theoretical economic models have exhibited some serious inadequacies in forecasting the future. In an attempt to determine the real predictive value of economic theory in this context, Douch examines each of the different economic approaches in-depth and then analyzes the actual workings of the foreign exchange market from the perspective of the market participants. Particular emphasis is placed upon the reasons for the observed failure of economic theory to reliably predict exchange rate movements over time.

Divided into three major sections, the book begins with five chapters that describe and evaluate the different economic approaches to explaining exchange rate movements. The next two chapters link the theories of the first section with the practical realities of the third by discussing the advantages of fixed and floating exchange rates and presenting a brief history of exchange rate regimes since World War II. In the final section, Douch first looks at how the spot and forward exchange rate markets actually work by examining the motives of market participants. Subsequent chapters explore such issues as whether Game Theory might be used to explain market actions, the effect of new foreign exchange hedging instruments on the market, and the contribution of Chart Analysis to exchange rate forecasts. A detailed appendix defines various economic indicators and seeks to explain how the market might react to them and why. Advanced students of economics as well as foreign exchange market participants with little economic training will find here important new insights into when economic theories can be helpful in predicting exchange rates--and, even more importantly, when they can not.

The central thesis of the book is that in order to evaluate monetary policy, one should have a clear idea about the characteristics and functions of money as it evolved and in its current form. That is to say that without an understanding about how money evolved as a social institution, what it is today, and what is possible to know about monetary phenomena, it is not possible to develop a meaningful ethics for money; or, to put it differently, to find what kind of institutional arrangements may be deemed good money for the kind of society we are in. And without that, one faces severe limitations in offering a normative position about monetary policy. The project is, consequently, an interdisciplinary one. Its main thread is an inquiry of moral philosophy and its foundations, as applied to money, in order to create tools to evaluate public policy in regard to money, banking, and public finance; and the views of different schools on those topics are discussed. The book is organized in parts on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and politics of money to facilitate the presentation of all the subjects discussed to an educated readership (and not necessarily just one with a background in economics).

Assuming little or no background knowledge and using original examples and exercises (with answers supplied), Understanding Phonetics provides you with an accessible introduction to the basics of phonetics and a comprehensive analysis of traditional phonetic theory - the articulation and physical characteristics of speech sounds. Examples from a wide range of languages are presented throughout using symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet. To help you develop your skills in this alphabet, Understanding Phonetics includes ear-training exercises that are freely available online, along with audio files of authentic listening material, for you to download from www.routledge.com/cw/ashby. Understanding Phonetics outlines the production of consonants, vowels, phonation types, pitch and intonation, and aspects of connected speech. Reading through chapter by chapter, you will see your knowledge develop as you engage in the step-by-step phonetic study of a selected word. Understanding Phonetics is designed to be used not only as a class textbook but also for self-study. It can be read systematically or used for reference purposes.

Financialisation and the Financial and Economic Crises provides comparative, empirical case studies of a diverse set of eleven countries. In particular, the book helps in understanding the current (mal)performance of Euro area economies by explaining the causes of the shifts in growth regimes during and after the crises. It goes well beyond the dominant interpretation of the recent financial and economic crises as being rooted in malfunctioning and poorly regulated financial markets. The contributions to this book provide detailed accounts of the long-term effects of financialisation and cover the main developments leading up to and during the crisis in eleven selected countries: the US, the UK, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, Estonia, and Turkey. The introductory chapter presents the theoretical framework and synthesizes the main findings of the country studies. Furthermore, the macroeconomic effects of financialisation on the EU as a whole are analyzed in the final chapter. Offering an illuminating overview and invaluable alternative perspective on the long-run developments leading to the recent crises, this book is essential reading for researchers, students and policymakers and an ideal starting point for further research. Contributors: S. Bahce, R. Barradas, C.A. Carrasco, H. Coemert, G. Cornilleau, J. Creel, D. Detzer, N. Dodig, N. Erdem, T. Evans, J. Ferreiro, G. Gabbi, C. Galvez, C. Gomez, A. Gonzalez, E. Hein, E. Juuse, E. Karacimen, A.H. Koese, S. Lagoa, E. Leao, J. Lepper, OE. Orhangazi, G. OEzgur, R. Paes Mamede, M. Shabani, A. Stenfors, E. Ticci, J. Toporowski, L. Tserkezis, J. Tyson, Y. Varoufakis, P. Vozzella, G.L. Yalman

This volume, the fifth instalment of the classic Report on the European Union series, offers at once an economic and intellectual historical perspective on the creation of the euro and its 20 first years, a comprehensive review of the current and future challenges of the euro area, including a critical look at the different options for the reform of its governance and institutional architecture and finally a close look at the "new euros", i.e. the ambitious projects that could instil a new life into the stalled European project. It covers a wide range of key economic and social topics such as monetary and fiscal policy, tax competition, the EU budget, structural policy, inequality, gender equality, post carbon economy, well-being advancement and democracy. Weakened by a decade of economic crisis and shaken by the awakening of populism, the European project faces three disintegrations: democratic disaffection, monetary and financial fragmentation and territorial dislocation. If EU member states want to escape those looming risks, they must, as they always have in the last five decades, reinvent Europe in order to save it.

This study focuses on a sample of occupational groups representative of the Mittelstand in the city of Hamburg - white-collar workers, artisans, retailers, civil servants and house owners - and examines the strains imposed by the infaltionary conditions on each group, seriously questioning the commonly-held interpretation of the Infaltion's effects and chronology.

The author discusses the experience of Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in a broad analytical and empirical framework. He displays a deep knowledge of post-Communist transition and provides an interesting analysis of various sectors of the transitional economy. - Professor Leszek Balcerowicz, President of the National Bank of Poland. Vladimer Papava has written an insightful account of the policy mistakes and successes of the economic transition in Georgia. This highly readable work flags mistakes pushed by outsiders, such as overly complicated regulatory legislation, and the failures of Georgia's own politicians, most notably, allowing a permissive climate for corruption - Dr. Keith Crane, Senior Economist, RAND Corporation. Drawing on the Georgian experience, Professor Papava explores the transformation of Communist societies into market economies. Particular attention is paid to the problems presented by hopelessly uncompetitive industries (necroeconomy), the difficulty in establishing an effective tax system, and the successes and mistakes of the International Monetary Fund. - Professor Louis Ederington, University of Oklahoma. transition in Georgia by a scientist and practitioner with a front-row view of the events. The book also provides a useful overview of economic thought on transition to market. It will prove equally interesting for economists and laypeople. - Dr. Ben Slay, Director, Bratislava Regional Centre, UNDP.

Nearly half of the Third World debt, or about $400 million, is owed by Latin America. How this has come about and what it means for Latin America's future are the subjects of twelve essays by experts on the Latin American debt problem. Despite their widely varied backgrounds and interests, the contributors aim toward a clearer understanding of the meaning of the debt problem and where it may be headed. A background sketch of the problem is provided, as is an account of attempts to cope with the protracted crisis. Detailed discussions follow of the largest debtors, including Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. The situations of the small Central American and Caribbean states are also treated. Finally, the volume explores the question of whether sovereign lending is really good business for banks or a good solution for these countries.

This second edition explores how money 'works' in the modern economy and synthesises the key principles of Modern Money Theory, exploring macro accounting, currency regimes and exchange rates in both the USA and developing nations.

Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) will have far-reaching consequences for participating nations. This book contains a unique and editorially neutral collection of key arguments favouring and opposing membership. The economic and policy implications are evaluated by distinguished economists, whilst the impact upon national sovereignty and the world of work is debated by prominent MPs and representatives of business and trade union organisations. The text provides an unbiased, comprehensive and 'readable' resource for specialist students and a general readership.

The lockdowns and shutdowns due to COVID-19 encouraged accelerated experimental with new organization practices. The impacts of the pandemic were very strong, both in times of containment, the loosening of restrictions, and recovery periods. Whether in collective and individual commitment, health, and the rapid adoption of new working methods, companies were challenged to adjust very quickly to cope with the emergency. With the interconnection of health, economic, social, and environmental crises, the situation changed the market and economy, and the lasting impacts of this unprecedented and intense experience must be examined. This book explores the digital ecosystem through a historical, sociological, political, and economic approach. It discusses new organizational practices such as remote work, digital culture, and the implementation of transformation strategy using appropriate technological tools. This book deciphers the new paradigm proposed by the digital era and provides theoretical and empirical frameworks in the field of economics and technology.

Herbert Hoover, as Secretary of Commerce, and Benjamin Strong, as Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, played a critical role in the formulation of American monetary policy during the 1920s. Yet little attention has been given to the relationship between them--at first cooperative, then increasingly one of conflict and factionalism--or to the impact of that relationship on policy formulation. This book sheds new light on their roles in policy making and relates those roles to larger conflicts over where policy should be made, how the Federal Reserve System should be structured, and the balance that should be struck between international, national, and regional considerations.

Focusing on the Hoover-Strong relationship from a political rather than a purely economic perspective, the book's scope includes both domestic and international aspects of Federal Reserve policy formulation. New sources have enabled the author to provide both fresh details and a broader interpretation. Elaborating on the belief that the Depression resulted from policies developed during the autumn of 1927, the author contends that the foundation for those policies was laid with America's decision to underwrite the Dawes plan, the decision to underwrite England's return to the gold standard, and the involvement in European monetary stabilization--all issues over which Hoover and Strong disagreed.

This book deals with the structural origins of economic and financial crises. It explains that both economic theories and policies need to be grounded on a monetary macroeconomic analysis of the working of domestic and international economies. The volume outlines reform proposals to make sure that banking activities respect the nature of money.

This volume contains bibliographic information for more than 500 serial publications in the areas of accounting, banking, finance, insurance, and investments. A full range of types of publications is represented, including scholarly journals, popular periodicals, newsletters, association publications, house organs, and loose-leaf services. Chapter one looks at the areas of accounting, auditing, and taxation. The second chapter examines banking-related publications. The third chapter, covering the general area of finance, is divided into four parts: general and public, which contains titles dealing with finance as a field of study and those that deal with the collection and allocation of public revenues; international finance; corporate finance; and personal finance. Chapter four covers titles available in insurance, including risk management and actuarial science. Chapter five contains investment-oriented titles, including those focusing on the stock exchanges, commodities markets, precious metals, real estate, currency, and more. Chapter six describes major indexing and abstracting services for these subjects. For the user's convenience, all indexes, abstracts, and databases cited in the annotations are included in the subject index.

This book provides unique insights into the politics of finance and the socio-political relations which drive financial policymaking in Hong kong, Singapore, and Shanghai. While the existing literature in the field focuses mainly on economic explanations for financial centre development, this book fills a gap by focusing on the socio-political relations which underpin the financial policy-making process. Drawing on extensive interviews with senior policy-makers and financial sector professionals, the book describes how state-industry relations drive financial policy-making in three major financial hubs. Insights and policy recommendations drawn from these interviews will be particularly useful for policy-makers and financial sector professionals hoping to draw lessons from the successful development of the three leading Asian financial centres. Business and Politics in Asia's Key Financial Centres draws on public policy theoretical frameworks for its analytical basis. The three chapters focusing on the historical development of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai also provide a consolidated narrative with regard to the development of these three cities as leading financial centres, while also serving as independent case studies. Scholars focusing on policy processes and political factors that underpin financial sector development, as well as instructors and students of public policy, international political economy, and financial sector policy, will find this book useful for their research.

This volume of intellectual biography records the work of Michal Kalecki's maturity: his work on monetary economics and the theory of profits; his work on the problems of socialism and developing countries; and the extension of his theory of capitalism to define his work in relation to Keynes and previous political economic principles. Kalecki had, by 1939, laid out the essential elements of his theory of the business cycle in capitalism. This book begins at Oxford where, at the Institute of Statistics, he worked on the economic planning and financing of World War Two, as well as extending and detailing the particulars of his theory and examining the conditions for full employment in the post-War international monetary and financial system. Kalecki would then work for the United Nations on full employment, inflation, and developing countries. He departed from the United Nations in 1955, and returned to Poland to extend two new directions of his ideas - on the economics of developing countries and his theory of growth in the socialist economy, alongside further work on business cycles. This book is essential reading for all those who want to understand Kalecki's lasting contribution to economic theory and policy.