Over the past thirty years the Pacific Basin region has become more integrated with the rest of the world and played an increasingly important role in the world economy. While much has been written on Pacific Basin trade and economic growth, relatively few studies have been published on the conduct of exchange rate and monetary policies in the economies of the region. These papers should be of interest to readers with an interest in broadening their understanding of different exchange rate arrangements as well as those wishing to deepen their knowledge of Pacific Basin economies.

This extensive research review discusses more than one hundred of the very best and most influential scholarly articles on the sovereign debt of central governments around the world. It examines discussions of the debt of many emerging nations as well as the largest sovereign debtors in the world thus providing a thorough understanding of sovereign debt as seen by the best economists from around the world. This research review is an essential tool to libraries, academic institutions, economic scholars and students alike.

Amanda Howell offers a new perspective on the contemporary pop score as the means by which masculinities not seen-or heard-before become a part of post-World War II American cinema. Popular Film Music and Masculinity in Action addresses itself to an eclectic mix of film, from Elvis and Travolta star vehicles to Bruckheimer-produced blockbuster action, including the work of musically-innovative directors, Melvin Van Peebles, Martin Scorsese, Gregg Araki, and Quentin Tarantino. Of particular interest is the way these films and their representations of masculinity are shaped by generic exchanges among contemporary music, music cultures, and film, combining American cinema's long-standing investment in violence-as-spectacle with similarly body-focused pleasures of contemporary youth music. Drawing on scholarship of popular music and the pop score as well as feminist film and media studies, Howell addresses an often neglected area of gender representation by considering cinematic masculinity as an audio-visual construction. Through her analyses of music's role in action and other film genres that share its investment in violence, she reveals the mechanisms by which the pop score has helped to reinvent gender-and gendered fictions of male empowerment-in contemporary screen entertainment.

Currency values, prices, consumption and incomes are at the heart of the economic performance of all countries. In order to make a meaningful comparison between one economy and another, economists routinely make use of purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates, but while PPP rates are widely used and well understood, they take a lot of effort to produce and suffer from publication delays. Currencies, Commodities and Consumption analyses the strengths and weaknesses of two alternatives to PPP. Firstly, the so-called Big Mac Index, which uses hamburger prices as a standard of measurement, and second, a less well known technique which infers incomes across countries based on the proportion of consumption devoted to food. Kenneth W. Clements uses international macroeconomics, microeconomic theory and econometrics to provide researchers and policy makers with insights into alternatives to PPP rates and make sense of the ongoing instability of exchange rates and commodity prices.

Today, most scholars agree that mismanaged monetary policy contributed to the length and severity of the Great Depression. There is little agreement, however, about the causes of the Federal Reserve's mistakes. Some argue that leadership and other organizational changes prior to the depression caused a distinct change in policy strategy that lessened the Fed's responsiveness to economic conditions, while others contend that there was no change in the Fed's behavior, and that errors during the depression are traceable to previous policies. This book examines the policy strategy developed by the Federal Reserve during the 1920s and considers whether its continued use could explain the Fed's failure to respond vigorously to the depression. It also studies the effects on policy of the institutional changes occurring prior to the depression. While these changes enhanced the authority of officials who opposed open-market purchases and also caused some upward bias in discount rates, Wheelock concludes that monetary policy during the depression was in fact largely a continuation of the previous policy. The apparent contrast in Fed responsiveness to economic conditions between the 1920s and early 1930s resulted from the consistent use of a procyclical policy strategy that caused the Fed to respond more vigorously to minor recessions than to severe depressions.

The book reveals how the Global Credit Bubble and Bust of 2003-10 stemmed from giant monetary disequilibrium created by the Federal Reserve. Almost continually that institution has pursued flawed monetary practice and principle which has mutated into Bernanke-ism. The book dissects this and shows how it threatens the return of economic prosperity.

The attempt of the Grameen Bank to alleviate poverty and enhance the skills and productivity of its rural women clients provides the fascinating backdrop to this important study of micro-credit institutions. Tazul Islam examines the real extent to which the Grameen Bank's credit-alone policy has been successful in securing the Bank's financial sustainability; its practical role in alleviating poverty and its actual impact on the productivity of its clients. This book concludes by considering alternative policy options that hold out the possibility of increased poverty alleviation.

This book covers the recent history of Chinese monetary policy. While most current work focuses on This book traces and explains the evolution of Chinese monetary policy in the years before 2008. The turn towards interest rate deregulation and market-oriented policy in China in recent years is often seen as a break with former command-and-control policy norms, in favour of Western central banking norms. We argue that Chinese monetary policy already went through a transformation under the influence of 'new consensus' macroeconomics after 1998, but that this surprisingly led to increased reliance on direct banking controls in the 2000s. Therefore, many of the controls that look to many like a remnant of central planning are in fact an outcome of an earlier attempt to 'rationalise' monetary policy, in unusual Chinese conditions. Specifically, policy returned to direct controls because of an underdeveloped interbank money market, and a glut of bank liquidity associated with enormous foreign exchange inflows in the mid-2000s.

Since money was invented, there has been a debate about better ways of creating it and better rules to govern how it works - until the last generation, when it began to seem that the money system had been handed down by God and remained unchanged ever since. But the last few years have seen an increasingly powerful resurgence of interest in changing the system fundamentally, and bringing the monetary trends that affect all our lives under our control. Few realize that the debate has roots and a tradition, covering mainstream economists like Keynes and Hayek, statesmen like Lincoln, entrepreneurs like Ford and Soros, as well as the imaginative mavericks behind local currencies and e-money. This volume collects together some of their most influential writings to provide a handbook on a vital train of ideas, and a guide to a debate on changing money that is becoming increasingly important.

Building the "new Europe" is at the core of the new international economic and political initiatives leading the world through the 1990s and toward the 21st century. This challenge rests on dual processes: on the one hand, the European Community-wide single market and monetary integration; and, on the other, the East European transition to the market place and integration with Western economies. This second of two volumes is divided into two parts. The first section includes essays on the general and specific topics linked to the transitions to a market economy and to a pluralist political system. The second section comprises essays on individual countries, such as Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia, and the Republics of the former Soviet Union.

The EU's single currency crisis and the ensuing human costs have led to Europe's biggest disaster since 1945. This book examines each of its stages and the political and social impact, and reveals the longer-term origins of the crisis, particularly the failure of elites to promote a genuine European partnership grounded in democratic values and a desire to co-exist with a national outlook. The author defends an orderly retreat from the existing model of monetary union, arguing that an alternative is needed in order for countries enduring a prolonged slump to recover, and recommending that EU chiefs should also treat the nation-state as a partner in a common emergency that needs to be overcome. This jargon-free, insightful and long-term analysis of a dangerous crisis is an invaluable book for academics and students alike. It is also an effective tool for policy-makers, citizens and business people who require an accessible and in-depth appraisal of a continuing catastrophe. -- .

This book gives a complex description and discussion of today's populist attacks against the European Union (EU) following the financial crisis of 2008, which opened the floodgates of dissatisfaction, and the migration crisis which destabilized the traditional solidarity basis of the EU. The problem of Brexit is also explored. Each chapter presents one of the main elements of the crisis of the EU. These include West European populism, Central European right-wing populism in power, and the exploitation of the EU's mistake during the migration crisis of the mid-2010s. These also include the discovery of Christian ideology against immigration and hidden anti-Semitic propaganda using a hysterical attack against the liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros, and Brexit. There is a detailed discussion of the failures of the EU to pacify the neighbourhood in the South and North, especially in Ukraine, and the rising hostile outside enemies of the EU, including Russia and Turkey, bad relationships with Trump's America, the uncertainty of NATO, and the emergence of a new rival, China, that enters into the Central European edge of the EU. The author explores strategies for coping with, and emerging from, this existential crisis and ends with the alternative plans and possibilities for the future of the eurozone. This will be an invaluable resource for understanding the crisis of the EU, one of the central questions of contemporary international politics for undergraduate and graduate students, and readers interested in the discussion surrounding an endangered European integration and difficult world politics.

This book gives a complex description and discussion of today's populist attacks against the European Union (EU) following the financial crisis of 2008, which opened the floodgates of dissatisfaction, and the migration crisis which destabilized the traditional solidarity basis of the EU. The problem of Brexit is also explored. Each chapter presents one of the main elements of the crisis of the EU. These include West European populism, Central European right-wing populism in power, and the exploitation of the EU's mistake during the migration crisis of the mid-2010s. These also include the discovery of Christian ideology against immigration and hidden anti-Semitic propaganda using a hysterical attack against the liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros, and Brexit. There is a detailed discussion of the failures of the EU to pacify the neighbourhood in the South and North, especially in Ukraine, and the rising hostile outside enemies of the EU, including Russia and Turkey, bad relationships with Trump's America, the uncertainty of NATO, and the emergence of a new rival, China, that enters into the Central European edge of the EU. The author explores strategies for coping with, and emerging from, this existential crisis and ends with the alternative plans and possibilities for the future of the eurozone. This will be an invaluable resource for understanding the crisis of the EU, one of the central questions of contemporary international politics for undergraduate and graduate students, and readers interested in the discussion surrounding an endangered European integration and difficult world politics.

The Korean Economy: From Growth to Maturity takes an in-depth, amalgamated look at the evolution of Korea's globalization drive from the early 2000s (Kim Dae-jung regime, 1998-2003) to the present period (Park Geun-hye, 2013-2017). The book discusses the role of foreign companies on the sustainability of Korea's economic growth, the relationship between the chaebol and the MNCs, the evolution of Korea's nation brand, and the role of the state in Korea's new economic trajectory (globalization) since the 2000s. With data collected from fieldwork, the book provides both empirical and qualitative insights (economic, socio-cultural and political economic analysis) into the Korean political economy and would be a very useful reference to other emerging economies experiencing similar globalization paths.

This book analyses the formation of the Spanish banking system. It provides a general overview of European financial systems in operation during the mid-nineteenth century, followed by a detailed analysis of the economic and institutional changes that gave rise to a new form of banking in Spain. The chapters analyse changes on banking regulation; study the social origin of banks' promoters; investigate the economic results of banks; and evaluate the interaction between banks and the economy as a whole. Finally, the causes, extent and consequences of monetary plurality in Spain and its European context are discussed. As such, this book covers the gap that exists in the Spanish banking historiography. Until now only the Bank of Spain and its predecessors had been adequately examined. As the Bank of Spain acted mostly as the state's financial agent, we know very little about private-sector financing. This text provides data and analysis for a more comprehensive view of early Spanish financial development in a comparative European framework. The Origins of Modern Banking in Spain should be considered essential reading for financial history students and scholars, as well as anybody interested in longview approaches to modern financial development.

The interplay between the macro-economic imbalances, notably in the relationship between the USA and China, and the more micro-economic shortcomings of the West's financial systems, particularly the lax regulation, forms the centre-piece of this excellently written book. In the disputes about the relative culpability of China and the USA for current macro-economic problems, they tend to support the Chinese arguments, and give well-considered arguments for so doing. This book provides an excellent, clear, and at times provocative, assessment of the course of the macro-monetary problems of the world since the 'great recession' struck.' - Charles A.E. Goodhart, London School of Economics, UKThis thought-provoking book addresses challenging questions raised in light of the aftermath of the global financial crisis that saw an accelerated rise in the economic growth of China and other emerging market economies, while the US, Japan and Europe have labored under the great recession. The authors examine global post-crisis reordering in a long-run context, identify five fundamental flaws in global bank business models and document the explosion of gross capital flows. They tackle difficult-to-answer lines of enquiry such as: can zero interest rates and quantitative easing lift the advanced world back to growth, or will they be dragged down by the overhang of debt? Might costs on savers, retirees and distortions to the pattern of global financing render zero rates counter-productive? What issues face the BRICs? Could 'China as number one' see the renminbi soon challenge the dollar and the euro as a major international currency? Providing a detailed analysis of the post-crisis world and the issues posed by the rise of China and emerging market economies relative to developed countries, this book will prove a stimulating account for academics, students and researchers in the fields of economics, money, finance and banking, and world trade. Bank and market economists as well as policymakers based in central banks, governments and think-tanks will also find this book to be an invaluable reference tool. Contents: Preface 1. The Rapidly Changing World Economy 2. The Great Recession 3. Global Finance and Payments Imbalances 4. The Role of Monetary Policy 5. The Post-crisis World 6. China's Prospects and Challenges 7. The US External Position 8. The Redback, the Greenback and the Troubled Euro 9. Conclusions References Index

Money is usually understood as a valuable object, the value of which is attributed to it by its users and which other users recognize. It serves to link disparate institutions, providing a disguised whole and prime tool for the "invisible hand" of the market. This book offers an interpretation of money as a social institution. Money provides the link between the household and the firm, the worker and his product, making that very division seem natural and money as imminently practical. Money as a Social Institution begins in the medieval period and traces the evolution of money alongside consequent implications for the changing models of the corporation and the state. This is then followed with double-entry accounting as a tool of long-distance merchants and bankers, then the monitoring of the process of production by professional corporate managers. Davis provides a framework of analysis for examining money historically, beyond the operation of those particular institutions, which includes the possibility of conceptualizing and organizing the world differently. This volume is of great importance to academics and students who are interested in economic history and history of economic thought, as well as international political economics and critique of political economy.

In this book, outstanding political economists provide wide-ranging and accessible essays on the global monetary system and its interaction with dynamic and crisis-prone financial markets. The essays are filled with fresh and well-articulated insights. This timely survey of an increasingly important field deserves a prominent place on the syllabi of graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in international political economy, global governance, and international finance.' - Louis W. Pauly, University of Toronto, Canada'Here is an intellectual feast for anyone interested in the political economy of international monetary and financial systems, served up by an impressive collection of experts. Students and specialists alike can gorge themselves on the many fascinating analyses of core issues and latest debates in the field. Highly recommended for anyone with an appetite to learn more about global money and finance.' - Eric Helleiner, University of Waterloo, Canada This extensive Handbook provides an in-depth exploration of the political economy dynamics associated with the international monetary and financial systems. Leading experts offer a fresh take on research into the interaction between system structure, the self-interest of private firms, the political institutions within which governments make policy, and the ideas that influence beliefs about appropriate policy responses. Crucially they also assess how these factors have shaped the political economy of various facets of monetary and financial systems. Organized into four comprehensive sections, the Handbook begins with a focus on the international system and explores how the distribution of power in the system shapes its structure and dynamics. The next section then considers the politics of exchange rate regime choice before analyzing current research on financial crises and financial regulation. Key questions are asked, such as: what drives financial crises and why do some economies suffer banking and currency crises while others do not? How does politics shape the central characteristics of the IMF s approach to crisis management? And how does change in the distribution of power in the international system change the structure of the global monetary and financial systems? The Handbook addresses these concerns and concludes with an examination of international governance, including the IMF and institutional reform in the post-crisis eurozone. This detailed Handbook brings together original contributions from some of the leading authorities in the field, making it an invaluable resource to academics and students of international relations, governance, and political economy. Contributors: L.E. Armijo, D.H. Bearce, G. Bird, P.G. Cerny, M. Chang, H.-k. Chey, E.M.P. Chiu, S. Cooper, J. Echeverri-Gent, K.A. English, Y.H. Ferguson, J. Grittersova, M.J. Lee, R.W. Mansbach, B. Momani, T. Oatley, T.B. Pepinsky, D. Rowlands, H. Schwartz, W.T. Selmier II, A.C. Sobel, S. Walter, H. Wang, T.D. Willett, W.K. Winecoff, K. Young, E. Yujuico

Under the rule of the current economic order, social injustice is ever-increasing. Issues such as poverty, inhumane working conditions, inadequate wages, social insecurity and an unhealthy labor market continue to persist. Many states are also unable to produce policies capable of resolving these problems. The characteristics of the capitalist system currently render it unable to provide social justice. In fact, on the contrary, the system reinforces these injustices and prevents economic and social welfare from reaching the masses. Many Muslim scholars have analyzed and, indeed, criticized this system for years. This book argues that an alternative and more equitable theoretical and practical economical order can been developed within the framework of Islamic principles. On the other hand, the experiences of societies under the rule of Muslim governments do not always seem to hold great promise for an alternative understanding of social justice. In addition, the behaviors of Muslim individuals within their economic lives are mostly shaped by the necessities of daily economic conditions rather than by the tenets of Islam that stand with social justice. Until 1990s, studies of Islamic economics made connections between finance and the notion of social justice, but work conducted more recently has neglected this issue. It is therefore evident that the topic of social justice needs to be revisited in a more in-depth manner. Filling an important gap in existing literature, the book uniquely connects social justice and Islamic finance and economics on this topic. Theory, practice and key issues are presented simultaneously throughout this book, which is based on the writings of a number of eminent scholars.

This major three volume collection celebrates the legacy of Robert E. Lucas, Jr., winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in 1994, founder of the New Classical School and one of the most influential macroeconomists of the late twentieth century. The Legacy of Robert Lucas, Jr. presents the eleven most influential articles on macroeconomics by Robert Lucas, Jr. together with articles by a wide variety of other key economists who extend, develop, criticize, or are otherwise significantly influenced by Lucas's seminal ideas.

This book is a major contribution to the fledgling literature on Islamic banking and financial institutions. It offers a comprehensive and novel analysis of the interplay of Islamic and conventional banking based on new evidence pieced together from nine Muslim-majority countries. The analysis is well informed by the relevant theory and the ongoing policy debate. The book will not only be of interest to researchers and students, but also to analysts in the policy making community.' - Prema-chandra Athukorala, Australian National UniversityThe introduction of Islamic banking and finance across the globe strengthens the argument for low and stable inflation and rule-based monetary policy for sustained economic growth. Although Islamic banking and finance may have created some complexities in financial transactions it remains consistent with Classical monetary theory and has created opportunities for improving the infrastructure of central banks and monetary policy to maintain both price and economic stability. This book reviews key aspects of central banking and monetary policy in selected Muslim-majority countries which have introduced Islamic banking and finance alongside conventional banking since the 1980s. The selected countries are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. While reviewing country-specific experiences and issues in inflation and monetary policy, and analysing them from an historical context, emphasis is given to the evolution of Islamic banking and finance and the consequent institutional developments for maintaining price stability. Macroeconomic problems under these regimes are also highlighted and their policy implications drawn. This volume will be of great value to students and researchers interested in Islamic banking and finance, and macroeconomic and monetary policy issues in Muslim-majority countries.

This collection of essays focuses on three reasoning problems devised by Peter Wason - the selection task, the 2-4-6 task, and the THOG problem - which have had a considerable influence since their invention.; The reasons why people make so many errors in these seemingly simple tasks are still not fully understood. A variety of different theoretical perspectives have been used in trying to explain performance. These include the mental models approach, the pragmatic reasoning approach, and the mental logic approach. This book contains chapters which discuss all these theories. Other chapters review the literature or offer alternative theoretical perspectives. A final chapter by Peter Wason describes how he came to create the tasks discussed.

Mainstream economic theory has been increasingly questioned following the recent global financial crisis. Marc Lavoie shows how post-Keynesian theory can function as a coherent substitute by focusing on realistic assumptions and integrating the financial and real sides of the economy. This book outlines alternative microeconomic foundations based on a world of fundamental uncertainty, with an emphasis on various paradoxes that arise in a truly macroeconomic analysis. The book is a considerably extended and fully revamped edition of the highly successful and frequently cited Foundations of Post-Keynesian Economic Analysis. It provides an exhaustive account of post-Keynesian economics and of the developments that have occurred in post-Keynesian theory and in the world economy over the last twenty years. Topics covered include open-economy issues, the methodological foundations of heterodox economics, consumer theory, firms and pricing, money and credit, effective demand and employment, inflation theory, and growth theories. Students and scholars of economics, particularly post-Keynesian and heterodox economics, will find this comprehensive look at the field a necessary addition to their libraries. Contents: Preface 1. Essentials of Heterodox and Post-Keynesian Economics 2. Theory of Choice 3. Theory of the Firm 4. Credit, Money and Central Banks 5. Effective Demand and Employment 6. Accumulation and Capacity 7. Open-Economy Macroeconomics 8. Inflation Theory 9. Concluding Remarks Index

Banks have undergone radical change in the face of evolving pressures from markets, globalisation and regulatory authorities. In recognition of this change, this book seeks to forge a new theory, or theories, for economic banking in the 21st century. It provides a platform for new thinking and stimulating ideas, which, it is hoped, will help shape the future of research on the banking sector. Combining incisive theoretical analysis with shrewd contributions by leading authors, from both the academic and professional world of banking, who are well placed to offer real insight into the current realities of the sector, this book addresses a diverse range of issues. These include measurement of bank performance, competition and consolidation, compliance, supervision, risk transfer, diversification and financial integration in Europe. The New Banking Economics provides a genuine and dynamic alternative to current banking theory that is embedded in a political and real-world context. Offering diverse perspectives, this book will be of great interest to students of finance, economics and business, as well as to economists, analysts and researchers in the field of banking.