Economic and financial crises and disasters Books

Book SynopsisThe untold story of how FDR did the unthinkable to save the American economy.Trade Review"Brilliantly told."—Steve Hanke, Forbes“A superb history.”—David Frum“The story is fascinating and the lessons eternal.”—Martin Wolf, Financial Times“American Default is the history of that mighty legal, moral, political and monetary controversy, the effects of which are with us still.”—James Grant, Wall Street Journal“A magnificent piece of scholarship . . . [that] illustrates the benefits of historical distance in evaluating major events.”—Kenneth Rogoff, Project Syndicate“Admirably accessible and illuminating.”—Benn Steil, Financial World

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe new, fully-updated edition of the respected guide to understanding financial extremes, evaluating investment opportunities, and identifying future bubbles Now in its second edition, Boombustology is an authoritative, up-to-date guide on the history of booms, busts, and financial cycles. Engaging and accessible, this popular book helps investors, policymakers, and analysts navigate the radical uncertainty that plagues today's uncertain investing and economic environment. Author Vikram Mansharamani, an experienced global equity investor and prominent Harvard University lecturer, presents his multi-disciplinary framework for identifying financial bubbles before they burst. Moving beyond the typical view of booms and busts as primarily economic occurrences, this innovative book offers a multidisciplinary approach that utilizes microeconomic, macroeconomic, psychological, political, and biological lenses to spot unsustainable dynamics. It gives the reader insights into the dynamics thaTable of ContentsForeword Foreword to the First Edition Preface Is There a Bubble in Boom–Bust Books? Acknowledgments Introduction The Study of Financial Extremes: One-Armed Analysts, Secrets, and Mysteries Part I Five Lenses Chapter 1 Microeconomic Perspectives: To Equilibrium or Not? Chapter 2 Macroeconomic Perspectives: The Impact of Debt, Deflation, and Mispriced Money on Asset Markets Chapter 3 The Psychology Lens: Homo Economicus Meets Homo Sapiens Chapter 4 Political Foundations: Evaluating Property Rights, Price Mechanisms, and Political Distortions Chapter 5 Biological Frameworks: Epidemiology and Emergence Part II Historical Case Studies Chapter 6 Tulipomania: A Bubble in Seventeenth-Century Holland Chapter 7 The Great Depression: From Roaring Twenties to Yawning Thirties Chapter 8 The Japanese Boom and Bust: A Credit-Fueled Bubble Economy Chapter 9 The Asian Financial Crisis: The Mirage of a Miracle Chapter 10 The U.S. Housing Boom and Bust: The Homeowner’s Society Creates the People’s Panic Chapter 11 China’s Credit-Fueled Investment Boom Part III Looking Ahead Chapter 12 Spotting Bubbles Before They Burst: A Method for Identifying Unsustainable Booms Chapter 13 Boombustology in Action: Is India Next? Conclusion Hedgehogs, Foxes, and the Dangers of Making Predictions Addendum A Passive Investing Bubble? About the Author Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe fourth title of Process's Self-Reliance series, this is a practical, empowering guide that addresses the questions and anxieties of these turbulent economic times.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen the first rumblings of the coming financial crisis were heard in August 2007, three men who were never elected to public office suddenly became the most powerful men in the world. They were the leaders of the world''s three most important central banks: Ben Bernanke of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Mervyn King of the Bank of England, and Jean-Claude Trichet of the European Central Bank. Over the next five years, they and their fellow central bankers deployed trillions of dollars, pounds and euros to try and contain the waves of panic that threatened to bring down the global financial system.Neil Irwin''s The Alchemists is both a gripping account of the most intense exercise in economic crisis management we''ve ever seen, and an insightful examination of the role and power of the central bank. It begins in Stockholm, Sweden, in the seventeenth century, where central banking had its rocky birth, and then progresses through a brisk but dazzling tutorial on how the central bankTrade ReviewBrilliantly reported and riveting, Neil Irwin's The Alchemists is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the global reach of the financial crisis through which we are still living. The international perspective brings a fascinating and wholly new dimension to the story, one that has until now not been adequately told. -- Liaquat Ahamed, author of 'Lords of Finance'Brings events to life without losing sight of the bigger issues * Money Week *[Mr. Irwin] has provided an accessible, engrossing account of the tribulations that Mr. Bernanke, with Mervyn A. King of the Bank of England and Jean-Claude Trichet of the European Central Bank, endured in pulling the world financial system back from collapse... Mr. Irwin seems to have talked with everyone, read the right scholarly papers and interviewed important dissenters in the Fed, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bundesbank... He has a nice touch for translating central banking's mysteries, opaque and forbidding, into understandable English. He is astute in describing the internal and external politics of institutions traditionally expected to remain above politics of the usual sort. * New York Times *A detailed and fast-moving account of these perilous years. This is the crisis as told through emails, phone calls, meetings and one very fateful walk along the beach in Deauville, France. * The Wall Street Journal *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book explores the nature of money and banking throughout their history, and applies this to the study of financial crises. The first part of the book covers the evolution of monetary arrangements, money creation and the business of banking since their earliest manifestations to the present day, showing how changes in the business of banking led to a transformation in the money we use. The second part of the book applies the understanding acquired during the first part to the study of financial crises, showing that money is taken out of circulation when bank loans are paid back. This key insight is at the core of the mechanism that explains financial crises, since an economy that sees its money supply diminish is also an economy that cannot generate enough demand for its own goods and services. Financial crises result when bank lending slows down or comes to a halt – while outstanding bank loans are still due for repayment. The mechanism is discussed in detail, and the crucial role of banks highlighted. Adequate policy measures to prevent crises, or to mitigate their effects, are then put forward in light of this mechanism. The book will be of interest to researchers and students of economic and financial history, as well as those working in finance, banking and economics more widely. Table of ContentsIntroduction.- 1 What is money?.- A History of Money and Banking.- 2 Money from the very beginning.- 3 Banks enter the scene.- 4 The dawn of modern banking.- 5 The creation of a paper currency.- 6 Modern banking comes of age.- 7 The role of banks in a modern economy.- II An Analysis of Financial Crises.- 8 The role of money and the logic of recessions.- 9 Describing financial crises.- 10 The mechanics of financial crises - part one.- 11 The mechanics of financial crises - part two.- 12 Fighting off financial crises.- 13 Preventing financial crises.- Further Reading.- References.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is an authoritative account of the economic and political roots of the 2008 financial crisis. It examines why it was triggered in the United States, why it morphed into the great recession, and why the contagion spread with such ferocity around the globe. It also examines how and why economies - including the Eurozone, Russia, China, India, East Asia, and the Middle East - have been impacted and explores their response to the unprecedented challenges of the crisis and the effectiveness of their policy measures. Global Financial Contagion specifically looks at how the Obama Administration''s policy missteps have contributed to America''s huge debt and slow recovery, why the Eurozone''s response to its existential crisis has become a never-ending saga, and why the G20''s efforts to create a new international financial architecture may fall short. This book will long be regarded as the standard account of the crisis and its aftermath.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The United States: why the trigger?; 2. The Bush and Obama Administrations' response; 3. From the American to the European crisis; 4. The Eurozone's sovereign debt crisis; 5. Russia: not an exceptional country; 6. China: from crisis management to rebalancing; 7. Japan, South Korea, and India: impact and recovery; 8. The Middle East amid the global financial crisis; 9. The great recession and the world's poorest; 10. G20 world: economic governance for the post-crisis world.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhy does America have a love affair with homeownership? For many, buying a home is no longer in their best interest and may harm their children''s educational opportunities. This book argues that US leaders need to re-evaluate housing policies and develop new ones that ensure that all Americans have access to affordable housing, whether rented or owned. After describing common myths, the book shows why the circumstances now faced by America''s financial underclass make it impossible for them to benefit from homeownership because they cannot afford to buy homes. It then exposes the risks of ''home buying while brown or black,'' discussing US policies that made it easier for whites to buy homes, but harder and more costly for blacks and Latinos to do so. The book argues that remaining racial discrimination and certain demographic features continue to make it harder for blacks and Latinos to receive homeownership''s promised benefits.Trade Review'The myth that everyone should be a homeowner is just that - a myth, argues Professor Mechele Dickerson in this penetrating book, and a dangerous one at that. She reveals how financial institutions and real estate professionals, backed by the US government, promoted increasingly risky credit in service to the homeownership myth - with particularly disastrous consequences for minority groups, the elderly, and low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Professor Dickerson demonstrates that, contrary to their supposed goals, the numerous incentives for homeownership often distort financial planning and destabilize residential areas, and she argues that many of our fellow citizens would be better served by programs that invest in education and earning opportunities, so as to provide a firm platform for stable communities that include renters along with homeowners.' Carol M. Rose, University of Arizona College of Law, coauthor of Saving the Neighborhood: Racially Restrictive Covenants, Law, and Social Norms'A bold, clear-eyed, and refreshingly blunt appraisal of the problems with the homeownership proposition for struggling middle-class and poorer workers. Mechele Dickerson's book is a must-read for anyone in housing policy.' Patricia A. McCoy, Liberty Mutual Professor of Law, Boston College Law SchoolTable of Contents1. Chasing the American dream; 2. The happy homeownership narrative; 3. US support for homeowners; 4. The homeownership crisis; 5. Homeowner harm and the blame game; 6. Flawed premises; 7. The burden of home buying while black or Latino; 8. The benefits of home buying while black or Latino; 9. Homeownership: demographic disparities; 10. Outlook and prescription for the future.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis innovative analysis investigates a complex issue of tremendous economic and political importance: what makes some countries vulnerable to banking crises, while others emerge unscathed? Banks on the Brink explains why some countries are more vulnerable to banking crises than others. Copelovitch and Singer highlight the effects of two variables in combination: foreign capital inflows and the relative prominence of securities markets in the domestic financial system. Foreign capital is the fuel for banks'' potentially dangerous behavior, and banks are more likely to take on excessive risks when operating in a financial system with large securities markets. The book analyzes over thirty years of data and provides historical case studies of two key countries, Canada and Germany, each of which explores how political decisions in the 19th and early-20th centuries continue to affect financial stability today. The analyses in this book have crucial policy implications, identifying potentiaTrade Review'This book is really interesting, and potentially very important for our understanding of crises and for public policy. Copelovitch and Singer advance a thesis that is quite different, and considerably more subtle, than the standard accounts of why legislators tolerate fragile financial systems. This survives its own tests. I hope others pick up the challenge.' Paul Tucker, Harvard University'The best scholarship in political economy combines macroeconomics with a deep sense of its social and historical embeddedness. Copelovitch and Singer's work is such a masterpiece … This book is not only a brilliant empirical investigation, but also a compelling history of the financial development of Canada and Germany. Anybody interested in financial market stability, from regulators to scholars and journalists, should read this work.' Mark Manger, University of Toronto'Copelovitch and Singer provide a compelling, comprehensive, and well-written analysis of why some countries are prone to banking crises while others are not. By demonstrating how the institutional context and the availability of international capital jointly shape banks' propensity to engage in risky behavior, this impressive book makes an important and timely contribution to our understanding of how globalization affects the stability of the world economy.' Stefanie Walter, Universität Zürich'Modern economic history is littered with banking crises that devastate economies and polarize politics. In Banks on the Brink, Mark Copelovitch and David Singer analyze the sources of these crises. They argue that domestic financial-market conditions, especially the role of securities markets, and international capital flows are responsible for banking crises. Their careful logic, statistical analyses, and detailed case studies make compelling reading for anyone interested in the economics and politics of finance.' Jeffry Frieden, Harvard University'Much recent work on banking crises focuses on emerging market economies in East Asia and Latin America. This timely book instead asks why there are banking crisis in developed economies and what policy-makers can do about them. As in the emerging market cases, the authors find that capital flows from abroad are an important potential trigger for banking crises. But what sets the developed world apart is the potential use of such capital and the structure of their financial systems, which are linked. As the case studies for Canada and Germany indicate, banks in countries with underdeveloped securities markets do not face pressure to channel this 'hot' capital to risky uses. In countries with developed security markets, however, risky behaviour is more likely, as are then banking crises. The policy implications follow convincingly from the analysis – address large current account deficits and increase capital requirements. Anyone interested in understanding crises and how to make them less frequent should read this book.' Mark Hallerberg, Hertie School of Governance'This book compares the two designs and focuses on financial market disintermediation and the importance of cross-border capital flows to explain the degree of financial instability in the two countries. Key lessons (and a few surprises) are drawn from the two cases for policy initiatives to contain damaging instability at tolerable costs to financial efficiency and innovation.' I. Walter, ChoiceTable of Contents1. The politics and economics of financial instability; 2. Banking crises, capital flows, and financial market structure; 3. Capital inflows, market structure, and banking crises: empirical evidence; 4. O Canada? Unraveling the mystery of Canadian bank stability; 5. Finanzplatz Deutschland: German bank stability and its decline; 6. Policy responses: what to do (and not to do) about financial instability.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFederal disaster programs kind of sit there and gather moss after all the expenses of running the government agencies responsible for rendering assistance to the disaster victims are spent on staff salaries, computers, travel and all the accompaniments of perceived power. Hopefully, there will be no disasters. Otherwise, let them be small disasters which might not interrupt lunch. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, the federal disaster programs were themselves disasters which were limp responses to the thousands of dead, hundreds of thousands homeless and entire sectors of America destroyed. This new book tries to examine the initial disaster programs, recovery disaster programs designed to cover-up for the initial flaws and the programs planned to prevent more disastrous disaster programs.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book examines the possibility of the federal government reaching its statutory debt limit and not raising it, with a particular focus on government operations. The nature of the federal government''s debt is explained, as are the processes associated with federal borrowing, and historical events that may influence prospective actions. This book also includes an analysis of what could happen if the federal government may no longer issue debt, has exhausted alternative sources of cash, and, therefore, depends on incoming receipts or other sources of funds to provide any cash needed to liquidate federal obligations.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisEmerging relatively unscathed from the banking crisis of 2008, China has been viewed as a model of both rampant success and fiscal stability. But beneath the surface lies a network of fissures that look likely to erupt into the next big financial crash. A bloated real-estate sector, roller-coaster stock market, and rapidly growing shadow-banking sector have all coalesced to create a perfect storm: one that is in danger of taking the rest of the world’s economy with it. Walden Bello traces our recent history of financial crises – from the bursting of Japan’s ‘bubble economy’ in 1990 to Wall Street in 2008 – taking in their political and human ramifications such as rising inequality and environmental degradation. He not only predicts that China might be the site of the next crash, but that under neoliberalism this will simply keep happening. The only way that we can stop this cycle, Bello argues, is through a fundamental change in the ways that we organise: a shift to cooperative enterprise, respectful of the environment, and which fractures the twin legacies of imperialism and capitalism. Insightful, erudite and passionate, Paper Dragons is a must-read for anyone wishing to prevent the next financial meltdown.Trade ReviewThis welcome critique of global finance is admirably angry. * Guardian *Paper Dragons looks at the economic dangers building up in the Chinese economy and situates them in world economic developments since the Global Financial Crisis. * Green Left *Walden Bello suggests that, while the next devastating crisis with global ramifications can strike any one of capitalism’s many nodes, the immediate threat comes from Asian giant, China. The lesson? Reform of capitalism may be the immediate call, but in the final analysis we must transform how the system works and we live our lives. * C. P. Chandrasekhar, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University *Walden Bello argues that fragility remains within the system and points to China as the potential source of the world's next major economic crisis. He raises issues that citizens, policymakers, and financial players ignore at their peril. * Dean Baker, Co-founder and Senior Economist, Center for Economic Policy Research *Walden Bello shows how global capitalism remains structurally prone to financial crises. With clarity and conviction, Bello continues to explain reality lucidly and inspire progressive alternatives. * Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics Jawaharlal Nehru University *'Startling, revelatory, brilliant! An astonishing exposé of the frightening economic details of this moment. * Jerry Mander, author of The Capitalism Papers *'In 2008, a U.S. housing bubble careened out of control and plunged the world into a gruesome global financial crisis. Bello brilliantly lays out the case that – unless we put effective checks in place – the next financial crisis will likely erupt in China. * John Cavanagh, Director, Institute for Policy Studies *In this volume, Walden Bello demonstrates that East and Southeast Asia has been the location of multiple financial crises, despite enjoying an international reputation as a group of successful globalizers. * Manuel Montes, Senior Analyst, South Center, Geneva *Walden Bello, in this terrifying new book, explains that, if major changes are not taken, the same set of circumstances – unregulated shadow banking, runaway financial speculation and an overheated real estate bubble – are poised to take down China’s economy, and perhaps the world's with it. A very important book for this political moment. * Maude Barlow, author of Blue Future and chairperson of the Council of Canadians *A stark warning about the vulnerable state of global financial markets from one of our most acute and prescient thinkers. * Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine *'A tour de force of past and future financial crises by the globe's most astute progressive political economist. Bello puts forward a comprehensive agenda to prevent the next crisis. * Robin Broad, Guggenheim Fellow and Professor, American University *'Walden Bello brilliantly explains how our global financial system still operates as a giant casino — with China now one of the most reckless gamblers. Read this book to learn how we can tame the global financial casino — before China and other reckless gamblers cause the next crash. * Sarah Anderson, Global Economy Project Director *Walden Bello is one of the rare truly global thinkers. A must-read for those seeking prevent the next financial meltdown. * Superb.' *'Crisply and clearly written, Paper Dragons demonstrates that: "Yes, it can happen here, again and again." Politicians and lawmakers everywhere had better get a grip on finance, now. Or watch out, World! * Susan George, President of the Transnational Institute and author of How the Other Half Dies *Walden Bello is one of the foremost analysts of global economics and politics of our time. He shows that the global economy is a ticking time bomb. Erudite and eloquent, this book could not be timelier. This is a must read. * William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, University of California *'The question may not be if another crash will take place, but when and where will it start. Bello eschews pessimist fatalism, arguing for a broad programme of financial reforms integrated into a comprehensive programme of reforms of the real economy. Inspired and accessible … Wholeheartedly recommended! * Heikki Patomäki, Professor of World Politics, University of Helsinki, author of The Great Eurozone Crisis *Table of Contents1. Introduction: Will China be the Epicenter of the Next Financial Crisis? 2. Crisis in Wall Street and the Keynesian Response 3. Europe: Social Democracy’s Faustian Pact with Global Finance 4. Asia and Finance Capital: From the Japanese Bubble to China’s Financial Time Bomb 5. Reforming the Global Financial Architecture: Opportunities Lost, 2008-2018 6. How to Rebottle the Genie 7. Conclusion: Why Financial Reform is Not Enough

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisPeter Nichols has crafted a terrifyingly relevant historical narrative...A terrific read. -Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In The Heart of the Sea In 1871, America's last fleet of whaling ships was destroyed in an arctic ice storm. Miraculously, 1,218 men, women and children survived, but the disaster was catastrophic at home. Oil and Ice is the story of one fateful whaling season that illuminates the unprecedented rise and devastating fall of America's first oil economy, and the fate of today's petroleum industry.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe 1997 Asian Crisis principally affected Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Korea, as well as other East Asian countries heavily dependent on intra-regional trade. Banks and other financial institutions quickly become insolvent, and heavily indebted industrial firms went bankrupt. Many of these firms were affiliated with the business groups of this region, yet most groups did not immediately collapse, indeed they proved remarkably robust, some surviving and even prospering.This book examines these East Asian business groups and their subsequent restructuring following the Asian Crisis. East Asian nations embarked on very different trajectories to this common external shock. The Asian Crisis affected the inter-relationships among the socio-cultural environment, the state, and the market of each country quite differently and had distinct effects on the operations of these countries'' business groups. This slow yet divergent pattern of development provides evidence against theories of rapid global convergence.Yet East Asian business groups face an uncertain future. Foreign investors'' influence has increased substantially since the crisis, as East Asian governments had to accommodate their demands to keep attracting foreign capital. Governments supervise banks more closely and have loosened restrictions on mergers and hostile takeovers, further strengthening the discipline of the market. Various entry barriers that had inhibited foreign multinationals from competing in national markets were lifted, exposing business groups to intensified foreign competition. Under these new conditions, business groups in East Asia should reconfigure their business structures and adjust their corporate governance systems to regain momentum for further growth. Business groups will continue to be important vehicles for the sustained future growth of this region, and this book presents a substantial amount of new data on this, which will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced students of East Asian business, and business practitioners working within the region.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Business Groups in East Asia ; PART I: JAPAN AND FORMER NICS (NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES) ; 2. Japanese Business Groups: Continuity in the Face of Change ; 3. Korean Business Groups: The Financial Crisis and the Restructuring of Chaebols ; 4. Taiwanese Business Groups: Steady Growth in Institutional Transition ; 5. Singaporean Business Groups: The Role of the State and Capital in Singapore Inc. ; PART II: EMERGING MARKET COUNTRIES ; 6. Malaysian Business groups: The State and Capital Development in the Post-Currency Crisis Period ; 7. Thai Business Groups: Crisis and Restructuring ; 8. Indonesian Business Groups: The Crisis in Progress ; PART III: NEW HORIZONS FOR BUSINESS GROUPS IN EAST ASIA ; 9. Chinese Business Groups: Their Origins and Developments ; 10. Conclusion: The Future of Business Groups in East Asia

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis new book from MOCOMILA, the Monetary Law Committee of the ILA, is a unique collaboration of the top academic and practitioner monetary and financial lawyers from around the world. It examines current legal issues of international monetary and financial law in the light of the current global financial crisis and consequent reforms of international and domestic financial architecture. The book deals with post-crisis financial regulation and supervision, including that of rating agencies and sovereign wealth funds, and financial crisis resolution with an analysis of bank rescue operations.Covering matters of current interest such as central banks, international payments, money laundering, and sovereign debt, this book is for banking and financial practitioners, in-house lawyers, central banks and international financial institutions as well as academics in the field of international and financial law.Trade ReviewMany valuable inputs and suggestions are provided by this volume, in which some of the most respected legal scholars on monetary and financial law have come together to share their views, expertise and experience * Mariachiara Malaguti, Common Market Law Review *Table of ContentsI. THE REFORM OF THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE; II. FINANCIAL REGULATION AND SUPERVISION: THE CRISIS TEST; III. FINANCIAL CRISIS RESOLUTION AND LITIGATION ISSUES; PART IV. MONEY, CENTRAL BANKS AND PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 2006 residential real estate prices peaked and started to fall, then threatened the world''s financial institutions in 2007, and confronted the global economy with disaster in 2008. In the past few years, millions of people have lost very substantial portions of their wealth. And while the markets have rebounded considerably, they are still far from a full recovery. Now, professional economists, policy experts, public intellectuals, and the public at large are all struggling to understand the crisis that has engulfed us.In The Financial Crisis of Our Time, Robert W. Kolb provides an essential, comprehensive review of the context within which these events unfolded, arguing that while the crisis had no single cause, housing finance played a central role, and that to understand what happened, one must comprehend the mechanism by which the housing industry came into crisis. Kolb offers a history of the housing finance system as it developed throughout the twentieth century, and especialTrade ReviewRobert Kolb's The Financial Crisis of Our Time is an exceptional and comprehensive academic contribution toward a definitive analysis and understanding of what happened to the financial world during the 2007-09 meltdown. It provides the answers to the underlying conditions, the causes, and the principal participants that combined to create the greatest disaster of our time. For any serious researcher, Kolb's analysis is indispensable. * Leo Melamed, Chairman Emeritus, CME Group *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Introduction: The Financial Crisis of Our Time ; Before the Great Depression ; From the Great Depression to Financial Deregulation ; From Financial Deregulation to the Savings and Loan Crisis ; 2. From Securitization to Subprime ; The Development of Securitization ; The Process of Securitization: An Overview ; Credit Enhancement ; The Subprime Difference ; 3. Before the Deluge ; Subprime Lending: To the Peak ; The Height of Subprime Lending ; 4. From the Subprime Crisis to Financial Disaster: An Overview ; The Housing Peak to Hints of Something Wrong ; The Slide Accelerates ; Mortgage-Backed Securities and Foreclosures ; No Relief in 2008 ; The Climax? ; Back From the Brink ; 5. Extinctions ; Among the Ruins ; From Countrywide to IndyMac ; IndyMac ; Washington Mutual ; Wachovia ; Bank Extinctions, Banking Consolidation, and Too-Big-to-Fail ; 6. The End of Investment Banking ; Big Brains, Big Egos, and Big Pay ; Bear Stearns ; The Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers ; Merrill Lynch: The Herd Goes to the Abattoir ; Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the Week that Remade Wall Street ; 7. When Zombies Walk The Earth ; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ; AIG ; Citigroup: The Biggest Zombie of Them All ; Zombies and the Future ; 8. Policy Responses and The Beginnings of Recovery ; Unfurling the TARP ; The Market Reacts ; The TARP Evolves ; Introduction of the TALF ; Instituting More Programs: The Public-Private Investment Program ; Support for the Auto Industry ; Support for Homeowners ; Green Shoots in the Financial Sector ; Initial Cost Assessment ; 9. Causes of the Financial Crisis: Macroeconomic Developments and Federal Policy ; The Basic Story ; Major Asset Price Collapse ; Concentrated Exposure to the Failing Asset Class ; Lack of Transparency and Freezing of the Financial System ; Macroeconomic Developments ; Federal Stimulative Policy and Legislation ; Attempts to Combat Mortgage Lending Discrimination and to Expand Home Ownership to Minorities ; National Homeownership Strategy ; The Causal Role of the GSEs ; 10. Causes of the Financial Crisis: The Failure of Prudential Regulation ; Regulation of Depository Institutions ; Regulation of Lines of Business ; Capital Requirements ; Interaction Between Capital Regulation and Credit Derivatives ; Regulation of Size and Scope-<"Too Big to Fail>" ; Restrictions on Concentration of Risk ; Regulation of Securities Markets and Supporting Institutions ; Capital Regulations ; Off-Balance Sheet Corporate Entities ; Credit-Rating Agencies ; Mark-to-Market Accounting Rules ; Complex Financial Derivatives ; The Regulation of AIG ; Poor Regulation of Mortgage Industry ; Defects in Regulatory Architecture ; 11. Causes of the Financial Crisis: From Aspiring Homeowner to Mortgage Lender ; The Borrower ; The Lender ; The Appraiser ; The Mortgage Broker ; The Mortgage Frenzy, the Originator, and Underwriting Standards ; 12. Causes of the Financial Crisis: From Securitizer to Ultimate Investor ; Purchasing Mortgages ; Creating Securities and Obtaining Ratings ; To the Ultimate Investor ; Incentives from Securitizer to Ultimate Investors ; 13. Causes of the Financial Crisis: Financial Innovation, Poor Risk Management, and Excessive Leverage ; Financial Innovation and the Creation of Complex Instruments ; Poor Risk Management ; Excessive Leverage ; 14. Causes of the Financial Crisis: Executive Compensation and Poor Corporate Governance ; Pay at Financial Firms ; Risk-Taking and Executive Compensation in the Financial Crisis ; Incentives, Risk-Taking and Compensation at Fannie Mae ; Executive Compensation and Lehman Brothers ; Incentive Conflicts ; Corporate Governance in the Financial Crisis ; 15. Consequences of the Financial Crisis and the Future It Leaves Us ; Measuring the Damage: A Warning ; The Bailout and Its Costs ; From 2006 to 2009: Our Economic World and How it Has Changed ; Reduced Circumstances: Our Economic Future ; Beyond the Merely Economic-American Recessional or American Renewal? ; Perfecting the Fatally Flawed Regulatory Regimes of the Past ; The Financial Crisis, the Great Recession, and Institutional Failures ; Fundamental Reform? ; <"Too-Big-to-Fail>" ; Corporate Governance, Executive Compensation, and Firms' Risk-Taking ; Conclusion: Dopes, Genius, Saints, Scoundrels, and Ordinary People

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the next twenty years the world economy will enjoy one of its strongest periods of growth.Opportunities, life expectancy, income and educational standards will all rise.The West's share of the global economic cake may get smaller, but there will be more cake than ever before.These are the predictions of Gerard Lyons, a leading international economist who spent nearly thirty years working in the City. Over the last quarter-century he has been ahead of the game in predicting the major economic trends that we now take as a given. In The Consolations of Economics, Gerard Lyons presents a lucid and accessible approach to what is happening in the global economy and what it means. The results are fascinating, refreshing -- and unusually cheering.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn in-depth look at the problems surrounding zombie banks and their dangerous effect on the global economy The title is worthy of a B movie, but it''s also apt. Bloomberg News reporter Yalman Onaran, supported by former U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chief Sheila Bair - who provides a foreword and numerous interviews - urge that insolvent banks both small and too big to fail be allowed to do precisely that. Reading bank balance sheets is not everyone''s idea of a good time. But Mr. Onaran, with support from Ms. Bair, does the chore and explains what it means. Mr. Onaran shows that the process of rescuing dead and dying banks is increasing systemic risk in the global banking system. And that is really more frightening than scream flicks from Tinseltown. -- Financial Post Yalman Onaran knows of putrid financial institutions, having written about them in his native Turkey so successfully he brought down a few in Istanbul in the late ''90''s. --

Read more less

Book SynopsisAt the start of the eighteenth century Louis XIV needed to remit huge sums of money abroad to support his armies during the War of the Spanish Succession. This book explains how international bankers moved French money across Europe, and how the foreign exchange system was so overloaded by the demands of war that a massive banking crash resulted.Trade Review“The present book shifts attention from the French fiscal administration and its structural and organizational inadequacies, across to the bankers who provided the huge injections of cash and especially foreign specie, needed to keep the French armies in the field. … This is a study which brings into focus the operations of a distinct group of financial entrepreneurs, showing that they were both vital to and parasitic upon the state’s military ambitions.” (David Parrott, History - Journal of the Historical Association, December, 2016)“Though this is a technical book, focused narrowly on a particular problem in international banking and state finance, Rowlands does a remarkably good job at explaining the intricacies of his subject, offering excellent introductions to the workings of the remitting system, the use of bills of exchange and the functions of international bankers. … This new book is the definitive work on international remitting in the last phase of Louis XIV’s reign, and is unlikely to be surpassed.” (John Shovlin, English Historical Review, Vol. 131 (552), October, 2016)“Dangerous and Dishonest Men presents an astonishing story of administrative incompetence, corrupt banking practices, and financial disaster. Rowlands is remarkable in his ability to understand and clarify the intricacies of early modern war finance and bring them to bear on one of the major events in French economic history.” (Thomas M. Luckett, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 88 (4), 2016)Table of ContentsIntroduction PART I: FRANCE, FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND THE LOGISTICS OF INTERNATIONAL REMITTING 1. The French Monarchy and the Foreign Exchange System in the Era of Louis XIV 2. The Logistical Geography of French Remitting 3. The Price of Foreign Exchange PART II: THE ROAD TO RUIN: FRENCH REMITTANCE BANKING IN THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION 4. The Gathering Storm: The Development of a Remittance System, 1700-06 5. Overloading Atlas: Samuel Bernard and the Crisis of French Banking Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents the empirical data of business cycles and the theories that economists have developed to explain and prevent them, and considers case studies of recessions and depressions in the United States and internationally.Despite more than two centuries of debate, a definitive explanation of the causes of economic cycles still does not exist. Economists, politicians, and policymakers have argued many well-known theories as to why these peaks and slumps occur, and cyclical recessions and depressions continue in spite of the enormous intellectual reserves working to prevent them. This timely analysis presents a comprehensive overview of global economics, assessing older theories alongside of new ways of thinking to reveal the empirical methods needed to evaluate, forecast, and prevent future crises.Educator and economist Todd Knoop provides explanations of influential macroeconomic theories that have shaped modern economics, such as Keynesian economics, Neoclassical economics, Austrian eTrade ReviewThere is much to like about this latest book by Knoop (Cornell College, Iowa). It is probably the most comprehensive, thorough, and balanced treatment of a topic that has been hotly debated in the discipline since William Stanley Jevons proposed the sunspot theory in the 1880s. The author delivers on his promise to write a non-technical narrative that is accessible to non-specialist readers. . . . This book will stir students' curiosity and encourage their research. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty. * Choice *

Read more less

Book SynopsisYou may not realize it, but you helped pay for a $10million, fourteen-month government “investigation” of the housing collapse.Only your $10 million didn’t buy much, and it certainly didn’t buy truth; anyhope of that went out the window on day one.The congressionally appointed panel—made up primarily ofanti-market, historic revisionists—managed to shift the blame away fromWashington and onto mortgage lenders and “greedy” Wall Street executives, whileprotecting the real culprits at the core of the crisis: POLITICIANS LIKETHEMSELVES.It’s not about Democrat or Republican, left or right, blackor white. It’s about the usual suspects—money and power and the people who usegovernment to manipulate them for private advantage.The Great AmericanBank Robbery maps out in detail exactly how Washington social engineers andtheir accomplices reshaped banking regulations and housing policies and guttedtime-tested underwriting standards that led to the worst financial calamity sincethe 1930s, one that has robbed American households of $14 trillion in networth.And they’re not done yet . . .

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow the current paradigm of technologically driven economic progress could destroy the planet and its socio-economic systemsTrade ReviewThere is always a need for clearly written cultural theory that is accessible but tries to identify macro trends using contemporary examples and data. Stuart Sim excels in this kind of informed, politically engaged, sceptical theory which is not infatuated with jargon or mystification. It's grown-up analysis for students of contemporary culture. Sim has authority, is totally on top of the material and has a certain quiet panache. -- Caspar Melville, New Humanist Magazine There is always a need for clearly written cultural theory that is accessible but tries to identify macro trends using contemporary examples and data. Stuart Sim excels in this kind of informed, politically engaged, sceptical theory which is not infatuated with jargon or mystification. It's grown-up analysis for students of contemporary culture. Sim has authority, is totally on top of the material and has a certain quiet panache.Table of ContentsPreface; Part I: The End of Modernith? The Cultural Dimension; 1. Introduction: The End of Modernity; 2. Modernity: Promise and Reality; 3. Beyond Postmodernity; Part II: The End of Modernity? The Economic Dimension; 4. Marx was Right, But ...; 5. Diagnosing the Market: Fundamentalism as Cure, Fundamentalism as Disease; 6. Forget Friedman; Part III: Beyond Modernity; 7. Learning from the Arts: Life After Modernism; 8. Politics After Modernity; 9. Conclusion: A Post-Progress World; Bibliography; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisYoussef Cassis is Professor of Economic History at the European University Institute, in Florence, Italy. His work mainly focuses on banking and financial history, as well as business history more generally. His most recent books include Crises and Opportunities. The Shaping of Modern Finance (2011), and, with Philip Cottrell, Private Banking in Europe: Rise, Retreat and Resurgence (2015).Jean-Jacques van Helten is currently a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and formerly the Managing Director & Chief Risk Officer, EMEA for the Bank of Montreal (BMO) Financial Group. He is a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of an Irish bank and a FinTech company, has a PhD in Economic History from London University and is a frequent speaker on risk management at international conferences.Trade ReviewYoussef Cassis and Jean-Jacques van Helten have assembled a ‘dream team’ of authors, including academics, bankers, central bankers, journalists, politicians, and regulators, for this accessible, engaging, and informed edited volume on the legacy of the Global Financial Crisis. This book is a major contribution to our collective memory of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. * John Turner, Professor of Finance and Financial History, Queen’s University Belfast, UK and Author of Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles *It is unique to have such a variety of established practitioners and academics reflecting on the Global Financial Crisis from multiple angles. I attended the original conference and I learned and thoroughly enjoyed the wide diversity of topics on the impact of the financial crisis. I am sure that the reflections and lessons now gathered in this book will be useful for future crisis management challenges. * Keishi Hotsuki, Chief Risk Officer, Morgan Stanley *Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction: The Legacy of the Global Financial Crisis (Youssef Cassis and Jean-Jacques van Helten) Part 1: Perspectives on the Global Financial Crisis 1.Moral Hazard and Equity Finance: Why Policy has been Sub-optimal since the Global Financial Crisis (C.A.E. Goodhart) 2. The Global Financial Crisis Ten Years On: Using and Forgetting the Past? (Catherine R. Schenk) 3. On Volatility, Economic Slow-Motion and Populism: The Global Financial Crisis and Beyond (Gerald Braunberger) 4. Lessons from the Great Financial Crisis in Perspective (Ramon Marimon) 5. The Wasted Legacy of a Crisis (Pervenche Berès) Part 2: National Experiences 6.The Financial Crisis, National Policy Responses and the Rise of Conservative Nationalism (Dorothee Bohle) 7.Financial Crisis Management: Unanswered Key Questions (Patrick Honohan) 8. SEB and the Financial Crisis in the Baltics (Magnus Agustsson and Karlis Danevics) 9.The Legacy of the Global Financial Crisis: The View from Greece (George Papaconstantinou) Part 3: The Architecture of Control 10.The Danger of Raising and then Dashing Expectations: The Lesson from Lehman? (Thomas Huertas) 11. Governing EU Banks after the Global Financial Crisis: From Regulation to Governance (Agnieszka Smolenska) 12. From Sets of Rules to Codes of Conduct (Jacques Beyssade) 13. Risk Management and Corporate Governance (Laurence Bogni-Bartholmé) Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe world has long considered China a juggernaut of economic strength, but since the global financial crisis, the country''s economy has ballooned in size, complexity, and risk. Once dominated by four state-owned banks, the nation''s financial system is a tangle of shadow banking entities, informal financial institutions, and complex corporate funding arrangements that threaten growth, stability, and reform efforts. The country has accumulated so much debt so quickly that economists increasingly predict a financial crisis that could make ''Brexit'' or Greece''s economic ruin seem minor, and could undermine China''s ascent as a superpower. Earlier this year, President Xi Jinping issued an urgent call for reform that gives the country until 2020 to transform its economy - a vaguely-defined objective that most economists agree is unrealistic. Whether or not China will be responsible for the next global recession, as some experts forecast, the fate of its economy will have far-reaching Trade ReviewOne of the clearest and most thorough statements of an argument often made about the country: that its government has relied on constant stimulus to keep growth strong, an addiction that is bound to backfire. Second, he comes closer than any previous writer to covering the Chinese economy as Michael Lewis, the hugely popularauthor of The Big Short, might do. His analysis is informed but accessible, animated by anecdotes and characters, some colourful, some verging on tragic . . . McMahon is among the most compelling of the many analysts who conclude that China's economic miracle will end painfully * The Economist *An engaging economy lesson: human stories are at the heart of every chapter and he draws on his contacts to bring this well-researched analysis to life * Belfast Telegraph *McMahon tracks how the former juggernaut of growth allowed its economy to become mired in debt, and the dangers this poses for the rest of the world * Sunday Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisPublished to mark the 30th anniversary of the financial revolution known as ''Big Bang'', Crash Bang Wallop will tell the gripping story of how the changes introduced in the 1980s in the City of London transformed our world.Attitudes to money and the way we measure value and status were completely reshaped by Big Bang, and it had an extraordinary impact on politics, on style, on technology, on the class system, on questions of public ownership, and on the geography of London. Perhaps more than anything, Big Bang revolutionised the international markets, as the capital became a testing ground for financial globalisation, with huge repercussions for the global economy. The definitive insider''s account of this critically important moment in modern history, Crash Bang Wallop will also explore what''s next for global finance as it gets ready to undergo yet another revolution. ''Iain Martin tells it brilliantly, mixing fury-inducing narratiTrade ReviewFascinating . . . it is worth raising your eyes from the Brexit mud-slinging to read a new book on the history of the "Big Bang" financial reform . . .UK politicians should take heed of Martin's book. * Financial Times *An exciting story, told with verve * Sunday Business Post *With a journalist's eye for a good tale and a narrative style that rips along, Martin has turned an unloved part of British history about an unloved industry into a fascinating yarn. * The Times *As historical accounts of modern finance go, this is a corker. * Breaking Views Reuters *For anyone interested in finance . . . this is a readable history of how the City became the world's money hub. * Sunday Times *Highly readable and well-informed * The National *It is refreshing to read this lively account of a series of actions that add up to one of the undoubted, if not undisputed, successes of modern government action . . . a timely reminder of how the City of London got to where it is now * New Statesman *Martin's great trick in the book is his ear for echoes of the present in stories from the past, making the old City feel remarkably familiar today . . . Above all, Martin has a warmth for his subject, and its cast of characters, without excusing their feelings . . . With the journalist's eye for a good tale and a narrative style that rips along, Martin has turned an unloved part of British history about an unloved industry into a fascinating yarn. -- Philip Aldrick * The Times *His book confirmed to me that the City is a financial centre like no other * Literary Review *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn original account of how the massive intervention by central banks during the financial crisis has in fact laid open the potential for recurring crises for poor and working class people.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWorld’s Worst Historical Disasters examines some of the most significant natural and man-made disasters in world history, from those almost lost in the mists of time, such as the plague in Athens which killed 75 per cent of the population and the earthquake in Corinth that left 45,000 people dead to modern day catastrophes such as the New Delhi air collision and the Samastipur train disaster which both cost hundreds of lives. All kinds of horrendous disasters are covered including plagues, earthquakes, volcanoes, genocides, floods, train crashes and aeroplane crashes. Each fascinating account gives a full and detailed analysis of the events leading up to the disaster, the actual disaster itself and then the extent of the damage and the dreadful aftermath. Learn about the massacre at Milan, the great fire of London and the historic San Francisco earthquake. Each story is highly illustrated bringing every disaster to life, plus key facts outline the most important information and allows the reader the see facts at a glance. Whether the result of mankind or an inevitable and uncontrollable act of nature, World’s Worst Historical Disasters will provide an educational and riveting read.Table of ContentsAncient Disasters: 3000BC – 0 Sodom and Gomorrah (2nd millennium BC) Modern science throws light on what could have caused the violent event recounted in the Bible. Indus Valley (1750 BC) The soil turns saline in the Indus Valley, the crops fail, and two great cities (Harappa and Mohenjo- Daro) fall into ruin. Thera (1628 BC) A massive volcanic eruption destroys the city of Akrotiri in Greece and turns the sky yellow over China. Aegean (c.1650) A tsunami 150m (500ft) high devastates the coastline of Crete. Athens (429 BC) Seventy-five per cent of Athens is wiped out by plague. Imperial Disasters: 0 – 1000 AD Rome (64) Fire beginning in the Circus Maximus destroys half the city. Pompeii (79) Pompeii is destroyed in a massive volcanic eruption from Mount Vesuvius. Rome (189) Plague kills 2000 people every day in Rome. Antioch (526) Over 200,000 people are killed in a massive earthquake Milan (539) The population of Milan, 300,000 people, are massacred by the Ostrogoths. Constantinople (732) Plague reduces the population of Constantinople by around 50 per cent. Corinth (856) An earthquake destroys the great city, leaving 45,000 dead. Medieval Disasters: 1000 – 1500 Jerusalem (1099) The Crusaders kill 40,000 people in Jerusalem, although they themselves have suffered 240,000 dead from disease and starvation. Northern Hemisphere (c.1200) The onset of the ‘Little Ice Age’ results in starvation, crop failure and epidemics across the northern hemisphere. Japan (1274) Kublai Khan’s invasion fleet is destroyed off the coast of Japan by a typhoon, sending 200 ships and 13,000 men to the bottom of the sea. Europe (1347–51) The Black Death plague kills 75 million people – one third of the population of Europe. Hispaniola (1493) The Spanish begin colonizing the Americas, beginning the destruction of entire American civilisations and the deaths of 24 million from war and disease. Africa (1497) Portugal establishes its first colonies in Africa, and begins the transatlantic slave trade which will cost over 10 million African lives. Early Modern Disasters: 1500 – 1700 Lisbon (1531) An earthquake wrecks the historic city. Natal (1552) The Portuguese ship Sao Joao runs aground on the Natal coast, drowning 100 and costing the lives of a further 500 during their walk to the nearest Portuguese outpost. Shansi province (1556) An earthquake kills 830,000 people, the greatest seismic disaster in history. New England (1617) Smallpox decimates the North American Indians of New England. North Atlantic (1622) The Spanish galleon Atocha sinks in a storm with 200 people and 200 million pesos on board. India (1632–69) Famine kills four million people in India following a severe drought. London (1666) The Great Fire of London turns large parts of central London to ashes. Zenta (1697) 10,000 Turks drown in the River Zenta when attacked by the army of Eugene of Savoy. Industrial Age Disasters: 1700 – 1900 Japan (1703) The city of Edo is wiped out by earthquake, with 200,000 dead. Lisbon (1755) A huge underwater earthquake destroys Lisbon through tremors, fire and tsunamis. India (1769) Ten million people die in the Great Famine of Bengal. Japan (1783) The eruption of Mount Asama wipes out Japanese crop yields, resulting in massive famine and infanticide. Moscow (1812) Moscow is burnt to the ground by Russian saboteurs. Sumbawa Island (1815) An enormous volcanic eruption in Indonesia ejects 50 cubic kilometres of magma into the air. Russia (1830) A cholera epidemic kills one million people. Ireland (1845) The potato crop fails and Europe-wide starvation takes hold. Mississippi River (1865) The paddle steamer Sultana, chronically overloaded with Civil War veterans, blows up and kills 1700 soldiers. Mobile, Alabama (1865) An ammunition magazine explodes, wrecking the town of Mobile and killing 300 persons. Abergele (1868) The UK’s first major rail disaster kills 33 passengers Chicago (1871) A city-wide fire leaves 100,000 people homeless. Fiji (1875) Measles is introduced into Fiji accidentally by the king, and kills a third of the population. China (1876–79) The worst drought ever recorded, in which nine million people lose their lives. Krakatoa (1883) The island of Krakatoa is destroyed by the biggest volcanic eruption in history. Disasters of a New Century: 1900–45 Martinique (1902) Mont Pelee erupts, killing the entire population of the nearby town of St Pierre. New York (1904) Fire aboard the steamboat General Slocum kills over 1000 people on the East River. San Francisco (1906) The San Francisco earthquake destroys two thirds of the city. West Virginia (1907) An explosion at the Fairmont coal mine kills 362 men and boys. New York (1911) Nearly 150 sweatshop employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company die in a factory fire. Atlantic (1912) The cruise ship Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks on her maiden voyage. Ireland (1916) The liner Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat off the Irish coastline, costing 1198 lives. Global (1918–19) A worldwide influenza pandemic kills over 21 million people. USA (1925) A three-state tornado kills nearly 700 people in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. France (1930) The British airship the R101 crashes north of Paris. China (1931) A dam across the Yangtze bursts, flooding 104,000 square kilometres of land and precipitating a famine. Soviet Union (1936–38) Stalin’s Great Purge extends over two years and costs the lives of around 10 million Soviet citizens. Nanking (1937) Japanese soldiers commit a month-long massacre of the citizens of Nanking. Leningrad (1941–44) The four-year siege of Leningrad causes the deaths of nearly 800,000 people. Connecticut (1944) The tent of the Barnham & Bailey circus catches fire, and 162 audience members of killed. Baltic (1945) The German refugee ship Wilhelm Gustloff is sunk by a Russian submarine, resulting in history’s worst maritime disaster. Modern Disasters 1945–Present Day China Famine (1959–61) Around 40 million people die of famine, a famine caused mostly by the political tamperings of the communist government. Baikonur Space Centre explosion (1960) The world’s worst space exploration accident – 91 people are killed when an R-16 rocket explodes at the Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan. Aberfan (1966) Over 100 children are killed in their school by a coal waste tip landslide. Bangladesh Cyclone (1970) One million people die when a massive cyclone hits the Ganges Delta Islands, Bangladesh. Tenerife air crash (1977) In the world’s worst civil aviation disaster, two Boeing 747s collide on the runway at Los Rodeos, Tenerife, resulting in 582 dead. Samastipur Train Disaster (1981) A train plunges off a bridge into the Bagmati River in Bihar, India, killing 800 people in the world’s worst train disaster. Bhopal (1984) Thousands die at Bhopal, India, after poisonous gas leaks out from the Union Carbide Factory. Chernobyl (1986) An explosion at the Chernobyl nuclea power station leads to over 2000 deaths from the effects of radiation poisoning. Hillsborough (1989) A crowd surge at the Hillsborough stadium, Sheffield, leads to 96 fans being crushed to death against perimeter railings. New Delhi air collision (1996) Two passenger aircraft collide over New Delhi, killing 351 people. World Trade Center (2001) The worst terrorist attack in history is unleashed against the World Trade Center, New York. Space Shuttle Columbia (2003) The Space Shuttle Columbia breaks up over Texas 16 minutes before landing. Iranian Earthquake (2003) An earthquake in Bam, Iran, results in huge urban destruction and a death toll approaching 40,000. Asian Tsunami (2004) The worst tsunami incident in history kills over 120,000 people in territories bordering the Indian Ocean. Hurricane Katrina (2005) South-eastern America's coast is left devastated by flooding. Haiti Earthquake (2010) One of the world's poorest countries suffers widespread damage and approximately 250,000 people killed. Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis second book in the FightBack collection responds to the question: what could the ‘new normal’ look like? Felix Staeritz and Sven Jungmann believe that business leaders and organizations have have formidable tools at their disposal – not just to cope with this situation, but to recreate the world so they come out of this stronger and more inventive. As entrepreneurs, Staeritz and Jungmann are passionate about solving challenges through continuous experimentation, in search of the solutions that will define and shape the new normal. At its core, this book is about the shared experiences of many business leaders, academics and entrepreneurs around how corporations can most effectively build new digital models to make the most of their existing assets. FightBack NOW is a timely and necessary book, challenging leaders and organizations to consider the new realities and the urgent problems which ultimately impact the future of every person and business.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA history of the effort to fight financial crises, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"How do political and economic institutions evolve? How does the past shape the present? Sumner La Croix answers those questions in an illuminating study of Hawai?i that links the original settlement by humans, endemic warfare among newly formed states, the arrival of Western colonizers, and finally statehood and problems today."--Philip T. Hoffman, author of Why Did Europe Conquer the World? "Hawai?i may have been the last major archipelago on earth to be settled by humans, but its short history is enormously rich. La Croix makes an invaluable contribution to the social science history of Hawai?i by laying out clearly and persuasively how political and economic forces interacted throughout all of Hawaiian history, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This is an important book that will find a key place in the history of Hawai?i and the political economy of colonization and statehood."--John Joseph Wallis, coauthor of Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History "A superb analysis of the economic and political history of Hawai?i from its inception over eight hundred years to the present. Using a unified framework of political orders, La Croix moves seamlessly through the various political transitions of local chiefs to Unified Kingdom, U.S. colony, and statehood, with their related economic implications. He documents how the structures put in place eight hundred years ago resonate in the present century. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in economic and political history and those interested in contemporary public policy."--Ann M. Carlos, coauthor of Commerce by a Frozen Sea: Native Americans and the European Fur Trade

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow mainstream business news failed its readers and what it means for the future of the profession.Trade ReviewThe Watchdog That Didn't Bark, given its in-depth analysis across the landscape, steeped in history, and Starkman's keen understanding of the business of journalism, can stand as a potentially enduring case study of what went wrong and why. -- Alec Klein, director of the Medill Justice Project and award-winning investigative reporter formerly with the Washington Post Starkman is literally a reporter's reporter. As such, he gets to the bottom of the story of how the U.S. business press could miss the most important economic implosion of the past eighty years until it was too late, and he does so with prose that is intelligent, engaging, and erudite. I recommend The Watchdog without reservation. -- Eric Alterman, Brooklyn College, and media columnist, The Nation Here is the missing piece in the financial-crisis mystery: how did our vaunted business-journalism sector manage to miss the problem with mortgage-backed investments? The answer, as Dean Starkman shows us in this amazing autopsy, is that the business outweighs the journalism and that it is getting worse, not better, as we go forward. -- Thomas Frank, author of Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right Journalism was complicit in the predation and corruption that brought down world financial markets and wrecked the lives of millions. Obsessed with shallow scoops, giddy from the laughing gas of access, financial journalists abjectly failed to connect dots, and left abusive, reckless, and criminal corporations free to drag the global economy into the abyss. Dean Starkman is the author we have been waiting for to tell this story. He not only puts forward a keen, subtle, and fair account of the journalistic default, he names names. -- Todd Gitlin, author of Media Unlimited: How the Torrent of Images and Sounds Overwhelms Our Lives With American journalism at sea, here comes a navigator who really knows its mission, the riptides it is facing, and the ports it must reach. Starkman tells it all with the heart, clarity, and dry wit that redeem business journalism even while showing how it lost its anchor and compass. -- Jim Sleeper, former editor and columnist at Newsday and the New York Daily News Journalists did not miss the subprime lending that spun into the devastating financial collapse of 2008. Excellent reporting was available, from the Financial Times to the Los Angeles Times to a small alternative publication, Southern Exposure. Yet Dean Starkman shows that even reporters who were on top of things buried the lead: the story was not new financial instruments, risky investments, or high-pressured Wall Street. The story was corruption. There were old-fashioned, greedy villains. Old-fashioned moralizing was called for. It would have had the advantage of being both true and fascinating. So how did so many fine journalists miss the big story? Read Starkman's powerful and disturbing analysis of how business journalism came to write for an audience of investors, not citizens. You may not share his every judgment, but this account has the advantage of being both true and fascinating. -- Michael Schudson, Columbia Journalism School, author of The Power of News As fair and balanced as a solar-plexus punch can be. Kirkus Reviews Starkman provides keen analysis of how the media failed in its mission at a crucial time for the U.S. economy. Booklist Compelling... Starkman offers an excellent and clear theoretical explanation for some of the problems with watchdog journalism generally. International Journal of Communication Detailed and fully satisfying... Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books The Watchdog That Didn't Bark adds greatly to our understanding of business journalism and the country's most recent financial meltdown. Starkman writes that it is intended for lay readers, but journalism students and historians will find much value here as well. H-NetTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Access and Accountability 1. Ida Tarbell, Muckraking, and the Rise of Accountability Reporting 2. Access and Messenger Boys: The Roots of Business News and the Birth of the Wall Street Journal 3. Kilgore's Revolution at the Wall Street Journal: Rise of the Great Story 4. Muckraking Goes Mainstream: Democratizing Financial and Technical Knowledge 5. CNBCization: Insiders, Access, and the Return of the Messenger Boy 6. Subprime Rises in the 1990s: Journalism and Regulation Fight Back 7. Muckraking the Banks, 2000-2003: A Last Gasp for Journalism and Regulation 8. Three Journalism Outsiders Unearth the Looming Mortgage Crisis 9. The Watchdog That Didn't Bark: The Disappearance of Accountability Reporting and the Mortgage Frenzy, 2004-2006 10. Digitism, Corporatism, and the Future of Journalism: As the Hamster Wheel Turns Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOf all the many books on the economic crisis, this is the best. William K. Tabb has absolute command of his subject and provides the clearest account yet of the financial folly that has brought the United States to its knees. Eminently readable and reasonable, his book cuts through the clouds of obfuscation by politicians and economists alike to draw a clear lesson: financialization is a cancer running through the American economy, one that continues to suck the life out of industry, corrupt capitalists, and Congress, generating more froth than real growth or jobs. A wonderful book and a real pleasure to read. -- Richard Walker, University of California, Berkeley, and author of The Capitalist Imperative: Territory, Technology, and Industrial Growth Tabb...makes a valuable contribution to the proliferating literature on the ongoing financial crisis with this well-written, carefully researched account of the great recession. Choice It isn't an easy read like the latest Michael Lewis best seller, but those who perserve will be rewarded. -- Fred Block Pacific Standard ... Tabb strives to offer an analytically deep account of real-world developments, not a theory for its own sake... He offers his readers a wealth of empirical evidence and secondary references to substantiate his claims, and he opts for nuance instead of hyperbole where appropriate. This reviewer for one has not seen another crisis-book that manages so wellto fuse big picture thinking with attention to detail. -- Daniel Mugge, University of Amsterdam Review of International Political Economy William Tabb has written an excellent account of the causes of the 2007-2008 credit crunch - and what in 2009 became the first global recession since the 1930s. -- Jonathan Michie, Oxford University International Review of Applied EconomicsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments 1. The Centrality of Finance 2. Financialization and Social Structures of Accumulation 3. Realism in Financial Markets 4. The Shadow of the Financial System 5. The Coming Apart 6. Rescue and the Limits of Regulation 7. Nations, Globalization, and Financialization 8. The Present in History References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines motion pictures produced or sponsored by Ford Motor Company from a rhetorical perspective, demonstrating how the films reveal a long-term rhetorical project that has helped embed corporations into many of the social systems guiding societies today. Trade Review“This book does important work by advancing a theory of how society may be organized around terms, values, images, and ways of thinking promulgated by corporations. It makes a valuable contribution to communication and rhetorical theory, to film studies, and even to economics.”—Barry Brummett,author of Rhetoric of Machine Aesthetics“This book brings together a set of literatures that, taken together in service of the case study at hand, offer a fascinating perspective on the relationship between rhetoric, film, corporatization, and hegemony. The central concept—incorporational rhetoric—will undoubtedly be useful to a wide range of scholars studying consumerism and commercial discourse, and rhetoric writ large.”—Christine Harold,author of OurSpace: Resisting the Corporate Control of Culture

Read more less