Economic and financial crises and disasters Books

Book SynopsisPicking up where Liar’s Poker left off (literally, in the bond dealer’s desks of Salomon Brothers) the story of Long-Term Capital Management is of a group of elite investors who believed they could beat the market and, like alchemists, create limitless wealth for themselves and their partners. Founded by John Meriweather, a notoriously confident bond dealer, along with two Nobel prize winners and a floor of Wall Street’s brightest and best, Long-Term Captial Management was from the beginning hailed as a new gold standard in investing. It was to be the hedge fund to end all other hedge funds: a discreet private investment club limited to those rich enough to pony up millions. It became the banks’ own favourite fund and from its inception achieved a run of dizzyingly spectacular returns. New investors barged each other aside to get their investment money into LTCM’s hands. But as competitors began to mimic Meriweather’s fund, he altered strategy to maintain the fund’s performance, leveraging capital with credit on a scale not fully understood and never seen before. When the markets in Indonesia, South America and Russia crashed in 1998 LCTM’s investments crashed with them and mountainous debts accumulated. The fund was in melt-down, and threatening to bring down into its trillion-dollar black hole a host of financial instiutions from New York to Switzerland. It’s a tale of vivid characters, overwheening ambition, and perilous drama told, in Roger Lowenstein’s hands, with brilliant style and panache.Trade Review'A must-read thriller for anyone who works, or invests in markets. It is a story of how arrogance can drive greed and fear to extremes.' Scotsman 'Richly textured and lucid…A riveting account that reaches beyond the market landscape to say something universal about risk and triumph, about hubris and failure.' New York Times 'Lowenstein has written a squalid and fascinating tale of world-class greed and, above all, hubris.' Business Week 'This book is story-telling journalism at its best' The Economist

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Book SynopsisRay Dalio, the legendary investor and international bestselling author of Principles - whose books have sold more than five million copies worldwide - shares his unique template for how debt crises work and principles for dealing with them well. This template allowed his firm, Bridgewater Associates, to antic­ipate 2008’s events and navigate them well while others struggled badly. As he explained in his international best­seller Principles, Ray Dalio believes that almost everything happens over and over again through time, so that by studying patterns one can understand the cause-effect relationships behind events and develop principles for dealing with them well. In this three-part research series, he does just that for big debt crises and shares his template in the hopes of reducing the chances of big debt crises hap­pening and helping them be better managed in the future. The template comes in three

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Book Synopsis**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**Yanis Varoufakis, world renowned economist, writes to his daughter to teach her the hazards of capitalism.'Why is there so much inequality?' asked Xenia to her father. Answering her questions in a series of accessible and tender letters, Varoufakis educates her to what economics and capitalism is and why it is so dangerous.Taking from memories of her childhood and a variety of well-known tales - from Oedipus and Faust to Frankenstein and The Matrix - Varoufakis turns Talking To My Daughter into an enjoyable and engaging read, without ever shying from the harder truths. Greece's former finance minister explains everything you need to know to understand why economics is the most important drama of our times.In answering his daughter's deceptively simple questions, Varoufakis disentangles our troubling world with remarkable clarity and child-like honesty, as well as inspiring us to make it a better one.'Utterly accessible, deeply humane and startlingly original - a potent democratic tool at the perfect time' Naomi Klein, author of The Shock DoctrineTrade ReviewIt's great fun to read ... Varoufakis has started a debate here, and he's done it brilliantly * Evening Standard *Utterly accessible, deeply humane and startlingly original – a potent democratic tool at the perfect time -- Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not EnoughA provocative, challenging, yet non-patronising analysis of the global economy. By using ancient myths, contemporary culture and family stories, Varoufakis makes the text intimate and accessible -- Nigel Jones * Observer *Experts have often found it easier to hide behind opaque language than to explain complex concepts in simple terms … Varoufakis wants to smash this barrier. . . He equips his readers with the beginnings of a new language, and punctures myth after myth – anna minton, guardian -- Anna Minton * Guardian *Varoufakis's brief history of capitalism unspools with characteristic fluency and verve ... those seeking to better understand the 'black magic' of bankers should look no further * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisTHE OUTRAGEOUS NO.1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, NOW AN OSCAR- AND BAFTA-WINNING FILM From the jungles of the trading floor to the casinos of Las Vegas, The Big Short, Michael Lewis''s No.1 bestseller, tells the story of the misfits, renegades and visionaries who saw that the biggest credit bubble of all time was about to burst, bet against the banking system - and made a killing. ''In the hands of Michael Lewis, anything is possible ... if you want to know how a nation lost its financial mind - and have a good laugh finding out - this is the book to read'' Sunday Times ''Magnificent ... a perfect storm of brilliant writer meeting big subject'' Guardian ''A triumph ... riveting ... The Big Short reads like a thriller'' The Times''A terrifying story, superbly well told'' Daily Telegraph''A rollicking good yarn'' Financial Times ''Probably the single best piece of financial joTrade ReviewIt's time to throw another tank of petrol on the Wall Street pyre, as only Lewis can * Financial Times *He is so good everyone else may as well pack up * Evening Standard *No one writes with more narrative panache about money and finance than Mr. Lewis -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Probably the single best piece of financial journalism ever written * Reuters *Hugely entertaining * Economist *Terrifying and superbly told * Daily Telegraph *Genius * Sunday Times *Compelling and horrifying -- GQA more than worthy successor to Liar's Poker ... if you want to know about the origins of the credit crunch, and the extraordinary cast of misfits, visionaries and chancers who made money from the crash, there's no more readable account * Daily Telegraph *A triumph ... riveting ... a genuine page-turner * Times *The very best book about this whole affair -- John Lanchester, author of 'Whoops!'If you read only one book about the causes of the recent financial crisis, let it be Michael Lewis's The Big Short * Washington Post *In the hands of Michael Lewis, anything is possible ... if you want to know how a nation lost its financial mind - and have a good laugh finding out - this is the book to read. * The Sunday Times *Magnificent ... a perfect storm of brilliant writer meeting big subject. * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisTHIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.The current financial crisis has only one parallel: the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression of the 1930s, which crippled the future of an entire generation and set the stage for the horrors of the Second World War. Yet the economic meltdown could have been avoided, had it not been for the decisions taken by a small number of central bankers.In Lords of Finance, we meet these men, the four bankers who truly broke the world: the enigmatic Norman Montaguof the bank of England, Benjamin Strong of the NY Federal Reserve, the arrogant yet brilliant Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbanlk and the xenophobic Emile Moreau of the Banque de France. Their names were lost to history, their lives and actions forgotten, until now. Liaquat Ahamed tells their story in vivid and gripping detail, in a timely and arresting reminder that individuals - their ambitions, limitations and human nature - lie at the very heart of global catastrophe.Trade Review'Highly readable... [Ahamed] cannot have foreseen how timely his book would be. -- Niall Ferguson * FT *'Fascinating... a brisk, original, incisive and entertaining account of a crucial time in the world's economic history that continues to affect us all today. Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the economic world we live in would do well to read this book' * Michael Beschloss *One of those rare books - authoritative, readable and relevant - that puts the "story" back into history... a spellbinding, richly human [and] cinematic narrative. * Strobe Talbott *A great read. * George Soros *Absorbing [and] provocative, not least because it is still relevant. * The Economist *

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Book SynopsisThe 2008 financial crisis was among the worst in history, yet nevertheless offers invaluable lessons. Recorded as the third largest bankruptcy in history, it caused Iceland to experience an instant collapse. Iceland defied the rules of finance; no bailout was attempted, capital movements were restricted, bankers jailed, and creditors fought. Amazingly, although Iceland was hit hardest, it recovered fastest. In The Combat Zone of Finance is an insider’s account told through anecdotes, dialogues and personal stories. The author, Svein Harald Øygard, was offered the job of Central Bank Governor of Iceland just as the crisis struck. He saw how institutions and leaders behaved from inside the system in its deepest crisis. Some made billions; others got burned. Their behaviour, strengths and weaknesses were revealed as in no other country. Øygard analyses these events in the context of financial risks facing the world in 2020; knowledge of which is becoming increasingly relevant.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 2010They were masters of the financial universe, flying in private jets and raking in billions. They thought they were too big to fail. Yet they would bring the world to its knees.Andrew Ross Sorkin, the news-breaking New York Times journalist, delivers the first true in-the-room account of the most powerful men and women at the eye of the financial storm - from reviled Lehman Brothers CEO Dick ''the gorilla'' Fuld, to banking whiz Jamie Dimon, from bullish Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to AIG''s Joseph Cassano, dubbed ''The Man Who Crashed the World''.Through unprecedented access to the key players, Sorkin meticulously re-creates frantic phone calls, foul-mouthed rows and white-knuckle panic, as Wall Street fought to save itself.Trade ReviewHe has done a remarkable job in producing a lively account that will be hard for subsequent authors to beat * Gillian Tett, FT *As close to a definitive account as we are likely to get * Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times *Andrew Ross Sorkin has written a fascinating, scene-by-scene saga of the eyeless trying to march the clueless through Great Depression II * Tom Wolfe *Andrew Ross Sorkin pens what may be the definitive history of the banking crisis * The Atlantic Monthly *Sorkin has succeeded in writing the book of the crisis, with amazing levels of detail and access * Reuters *Too good to put down . . . It is the story of the actors in the most extraordinary financial spectacle in 80 years, and it is told brilliantly . . . It is hard to imagine them being this riveting * Economist *Sorkin can write. His storytelling makes Liar's Poker look like a children's book * SNL Financial *The most readable and exciting report of the events surrounding the Lehman collapse that we have seen . . . impeccably sourced * Edmund Conway, Daily Telegraph *The sense of being in the meeting rooms as hitherto all-conquering alpha male egos fight for their reputations, as their and our world judders, is palpable * Chris Blackhurst, Evening Standard *Surpassed its rivals with its depth, range of reporting and high quality analysis * Stefan Stern, FT *A superbly researched and sobering take on the events surrounding the meltdown on Wall Street * Sam Mendes *With Too Big to Fail , Andrew Ross Sorkin has broken the Barbarians [At The Gate] curse ... Ross Sorkin's ... astonishing narrative of the epic financial crisis of 2008 is an extraordinary achievement that will be hard to surpass as the definitive account * John Gapper, FT *The heir to Barbarians at the Gate * FT *

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, rich and poor countries alike have been lending, borrowing, crashing - and recovering - their way through an extraordinary range of financial crises. Each time, the experts have chimed, "this time is different". This book covers topics ranging from medieval currency debasements to today's subprime catastrophe.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2011 Gold Medal Arthur Ross Book Award, Council on Foreign Relations Winner of the 2010 Paul A. Samuelson Award, TIAA-CREF One of USA Today's "Year's Best Business Books To Make Sense of Financial Crisis" Listed on Bloomberg.com by James Pressley as one of "our favorite financial-crisis books this year" Shortlisted for the 2010 Spear's Book of the Year Award in Financial History Finalist for the 2011 Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book Prize Runner-Up for the Book of the Year, The Atlantic Finalist for the 2009 Business Book Award ("Best of the Rest") in Current Interest, 800-CEO-READ One of Library Journal Best Business Books - Economics/U.S. Economy category "Mr. Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard University, accurately predicted the eurozone debt crisis and for years has been telling anyone who would listen that China posed the next big threat to the global economy. He is starting to look right, again... 'China is the classic "This time is different" story,' Mr. Rogoff said."--Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times "[E]ssential reading ... both for its originality and for the sobering patterns of financial behaviour it reveals."--Economist "Reinhart and Rogoff have compiled an impressive database, which covers eight centuries of government debt defaults from around the world. They have also collected statistics on inflation rates from every country where information is available and on banking crises and international capital flows over the past couple of centuries. This lengthy historical study gives what they call a 'panoramic view' of the unending cycle of boom and bust, showing how claims that 'this time is different' are invariably proven wrong... This Time Is Different doesn't simply explain what went wrong in our most recent crisis. This book also provides a roadmap of how things are likely to pan out in the years to come... This Time Is Different is an important addition to the literature of financial history."--Edward Chancellor, Wall Street Journal "Everyone working on economic policy should own This Time is Different and open it for a bracing blast of sobriety when things seem to be going well."--Greg Ip, Washington Post "[T]he most comprehensive study of financial crises and their aftermath."--Eduardo Porter, New York Times "The authors use copious amounts of data ... to make the compelling case that any well-informed person should have seen the Great Recession coming. The essence of their book is that while financial crises come in different varieties, they are not mysteriously born of undersea earthquakes, but frequently occurring events that can be spotted and even controlled if politicians and regulators know what to look for."--Devin Leonard, New York Times "This Time is Different takes a Sergeant Friday, just-the-facts-ma'am approach: before we start theorizing, let's take a hard look at what history tells us. One side benefit of this approach is that the current book manages to be both extremely useful to professional economists and accessible to the intelligent lay reader. The Reinhart-Rogoff approach has already paid off handsomely in making sense of current events."--Robin Wells and Paul Krugman, New York Review of Books "[A] terrific book."--Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times "Among policy experts and economists, This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly ... has become so influential that when somebody says, 'We live in a Reinhart-Rogoff world,' everybody else in the room nods sagely."--Justin Lahart, Wall Street Journal "Professor Rogoff and his longtime collaborator Carmen Reinhart ... know more about the history of financial crises than anyone alive. The pair have just published their broad survey of financial crises, This Time is Different. In an era when most 'analysts' rely on maybe 30 or 40 years' worth of financial history--and then only that of the U.S.--the authors' knowledge of financial crises and government bond defaults going back to the Spanish empire and before offers a richer perspective."--Brett Arends, Wall Street Journal "[O]ne of the most important economic books of 2009."--Jon Hilsenrath, Wall Street Journal "[T]he definitive book on financial crises."--Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post "Two top-notch economists provide a clear and interesting explanation of why economic crises keep occurring. Broadly speaking, downturns such as the one we are recovering from are historically associated with characteristics that should sound quite familiar to today's investors."--David Schwartz, Financial Times "[A] masterpiece."--Martin Wolf, Financial Times "The four most dangerous words in finance are 'this time is different.' Thanks to this masterpiece by Carmen Reinhart at the University of Maryland and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard, no one can doubt this again... The authors have put an immense amount of work into collecting the data financial institutions needed if they were to have any chance of making quantitative risk management work."--Martin Wolf, Financial Times "Here's a deep and rewarding assignment for all of you, young and old, poor and rich, bullish and bearish. Retire to a quiet spot with a copy of This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff."--Bob Lenzner, Forbes.com "[A] fine new history of financial debacles."--Daniel Gross, Newsweek "Wouldn't it be nice to have $1,000 for every time a pundit proclaims an era of endless prosperity, consigning booms and busts to the dumpster of history? The next time you hear that canard (and you will) pour yourself a single malt and dip into Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff's landmark study, This Time Is Different. Wherever you open the book, you'll find proof that debt-fueled expansions have ended in financial ruin for hundreds of years... The result is a visual history laid out in beguilingly simple graphs and tables, making the book both definitive--a must read for professors and investors--and accessible to a wider audience."--James Pressley, Bloomberg News "Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff have delivered a powerful and eloquent statement... Reinhart and Rogoff have done an extraordinary job in putting together statistics on government debt--a task that economic historians should have done long ago but shied away from because of the difficulties of defining 'government', which is often complex and multi-layered."--Harold James, The American Interest "Unlike prior narrative accounts of market panics from such finance writers as Charles Kindleberger and Edward Chancellor, Reinhart and Rogoff give us a data-driven study that is global in sweep but also a model of clarity. The authors package their notably nonhysterical analysis of the latest crisis in a large, self-contained section of the book inviting harried readers to skip right ahead to it."--Daniel Akst, CNNMoney.com "A tour de force of quantitative analysis covering financial crises affecting 66 countries over the past 800 years, the book identifies pre-crisis patterns that recur with eerie consistency. This Time is Different is a must-read for anyone on the lookout for canaries in coal mines."--Barron's "This is certainly one of the must-read books of the year."--Arnold Kling, Econlog.com "Rogoff and Reinhart ... provide an eye-opening look at the cycles of boom and bust and how governments deal with those cycles."--Arkansas Business "[A] valuable new book."--Idaho Statesman "Having studied mountains of economic data during the past eight centuries, the authors insightfully point out the highly repetitive nature of financial crises resulted from a dangerous mix of hubris, euphoria and amnesia."--Shanghai Daily "This Time is Different ... is an unusually powerful bull detector designed to protect investors and taxpayers alike--eventually, at least, and provided the spirit is willing... The book's most memorable passages--what the authors call its 'core life'--are to be found not in colorful stories about long-ago personalities, but rather in its various tables and figures. They take some time to comprehend, but any responsible citizen can and ought to consider they evidence they present. It is overwhelming."--David Warsh, Harvard Magazine "Financial folly, economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff show in this groundbreaking book, knows no boundaries and has no expiration date... For a book built around numbers, This Time is Different makes for surprisingly good reading. The authors are well aware that human nature is at the heart of the disasters they document, and they enliven the text with brief and amusing accounts of charlatans and cheats."--Paul Wiseman, USA Today "The credit crunch of 2007 became the financial crash of 2008 and the recession of 2009. But there has been much debate about the scale of this crisis, and how it ranks against previous events. Reinhart and Rogoff have produced the most detailed study yet of financial crises, going back as far as 12th-century China... [This Time is Different] will be a vital source of reference in debates on the causes and consequences of financial crises. By cataloguing so thoroughly every known instance of financial crisis, it performs a significant service and opens up new lines of inquiry."--Andrew Gamble, New Statesman "[T]his is the kind of economics we desperately need, as it is relevant, fact-based and replete with wisdom from the past--and lessons for the future."--Irish Times "For those who want to relearn the forgotten lessons of the past, This Time is Different, by economics professors Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, is an excellent place to start... These are lessons worth learning."--Liaquat Ahamed, National Interest "This book's distinctive strength is that it's built around a massive international database going back as far as twelfth-century China and medieval Europe."--Harvard Business Review "[S]uperb."--Neil Reynolds, Globe & Mail "Reinhart and Rogoff have compiled an encyclopedic analysis of the history of financial crises over the last 750 years. But their volume is not merely of historical interest. Rather, it has great relevance for anyone interested in understanding how the current financial crisis is likely to unfold."--Choice "Reinhart and Rogoff present a sobering reminder that financial crises are a serial phenomenon--caused in no small part by the seductive 'this-time-is-different syndrome,' the prevalent belief that to us, here and now, old economic laws of motion no longer apply. Their ambitious quantitative history of financial crises draws out sweeping parallels between financial crises, across times and continents; and between inflating away domestic debt, currency debasements, and defaults on external debt."--Finance & Development "[I]nstant classic tome on debt crises."--Alen Mattich, Dow Jones Newswires "[A]wesome."--William Easterly, AidWatch "One book in particular has been circulating among economists and market insiders. This Time is Different analyzes vast amounts of historical data on financial debacles, including state failures around the world, bank crises, currency woes and high inflation. The title satirizes those who fail to learn from past blunders and repeat them while insisting, 'This time is different.'"--Hideo Tsuchiya, Nikkei Weekly "Reinhart and Rogoff have produced a splendid book detailing the massive self-destructive behavior that all states have been undergoing over the past several centuries... Reading this excellent book on the paths of previous economic cycles could help avoid some of the worst results of our self-destructive financial acts."--Lloyd Demause, Journal of Psychohistory "Anyone looking for a more academic take on where this meltdown places in the history of financial folly should turn to This Time is Different, a magisterial work on the causes and consequences of crises stretching back 800 years."--Matthew Valencia, Economist.com "I couldn't put it down until I had gone all the way through it, and then I immediately ordered it as an assigned text for my Spring 2010 MBA course, 'The Development of Financial Institutions and Markets.' My students are finding it useful and engaging."--Richard Sylla, EH.Net "Easily the most useful, and arguably the best, is this splendid piece of research and analysis on, as the subtitle says, 800 years' worth of booms and busts."--Bill Emmott, Survival "This Time Is Different changes the way we can study financial crises. It is the start of a truly comprehensive approach to the subject... It adds new ideas that will be useful for gauging the risk of future crises and perhaps even reducing their impact, if investors and policymakers are willing to learn from other people's mistakes, not just their own mistakes."--Kurt Schuler, CATO Journal "[T]he book will be essential reading for anyone who wants to put the recent crisis into some historical perspective--and get some ideas on how to prevent, or at least delay, the next one."--David Orrell, Foresight "It's the only book I have seen that provides, with great detail and over 800 years, clearly defined, analytical, data-driven evidence of what the impact of a post-financial crisis period is and hence what we can anticipate... I've never seen anything that comes close in terms of being comprehensive. It's a tour de force."--Dambisa Moyo, The Browser "[T]his Time is Different [is a] landmark work on financial crises."--Megan McArdle, TheAtlantic.com "Readable, shocking, and vital, this is a book that every investor who has been tempted by a hefty interest rate in a faraway land should study."--Andrew Allentuck, National Post "[This Time is Different] is perhaps the finest study of financial crises ever published."--Ezra Klein, Washington Post "[A] modern classic... In their landmark study of hundreds of financial crises in 66 countries over 800 years, Reinhart and Rogoff find oft-repeated patterns that ought to alert economists when trouble is on the way. One thing stops them waking up in time: their perpetual belief that 'this time is different.'"--Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald "[S]eminal."--Rana Faroohar and Bill Saporito, Time "[T]he pre-eminent history of financial crises."--Adam Davidson, New York Times Magazine "The book by Reinhart and Rogoff is one for the ages, and it will be remembered as a landmark event, not least given the coincidence of its publication of such a deep and broad historical analysis of economic crises with the very moment when the world was entering a massive 'hundred year flood' type of calamity. The authors' empirical work is encyclopedic and much of the data are highly original and the result of intense effort. The necessary theoretical framing is provided, but in terms that all target readers should be able to absorb. The overall view is panoramic and the message carried is an important one for all to hear--policymakers, commentators, and researchers. Crises are still with us, they are very painful indeed, and perhaps it will always be so. It is up to us to figure out why and how crises happen, and to figure out what, if anything, can and should be done to mitigate their devastating effects in future. This book is therefore, above all, a call to action."--Journal of Economic Literature "[E]conomists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff take a much-needed longer view, placing the current crisis, with a focus on the U.S. housing bubble, into historical perspective."--Anil Hira, Perspectives on Politics "Reinhart and Rogoff's book belongs to the tradition of studies that appear in the middle of a crisis but it manages to keep its spine above water because of its historical depth and systematic rigour."--Sakis Gekas, Dublin Review of BooksTable of ContentsLIST OF TABLES xiii LIST OF FIGURES xvii LIST OF BOXES xxiii PREFACE xxv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxxvii PREAMBLE: SOME INITIAL INTUITIONS ON FINANCIAL FRAGILITY AND THE FICKLE NATURE OF CONFIDENCE xxxix PART I: Financial Crises: An Operational Primer 1 Chapter 1: Varieties of Crises and Their Dates 3 Crises Defined by Quantitative Thresholds: Inflation, Currency Crashes, and Debasement 4 Crises Defined by Events: Banking Crises and External and Domestic Default 8 Other Key Concepts 14 Chapter 2: Debt Intolerance: The Genesis of Serial Default 21 Debt Thresholds 21 Measuring Vulnerability 25 Clubs and Regions 27 Reflections on Debt Intolerance 29 Chapter 3: A Global Database on Financial Crises with a Long-Term View 34 Prices, Exchange Rates, Currency Debasement, and Real GDP 35 Government Finances and National Accounts 39 Public Debt and Its Composition 40 Global Variables 43 Country Coverage 43 PART II: Sovereign External Debt Crises 49 Chapter 4: A Digression on the Theoretical Underpinnings of Debt Crises 51 Sovereign Lending 54 Illiquidity versus Insolvency 59 Partial Default and Rescheduling 61 Odious Debt 63 Domestic Public Debt 64 Conclusions 67 Chapter 5: Cycles of Sovereign Default on External Debt 68 Recurring Patterns 68 Default and Banking Crises 73 Default and Inflation 75 Global Factors and Cycles of Global External Default 77 The Duration of Default Episodes 81 Chapter 6: External Default through History 86 The Early History of Serial Default: Emerging Europe, 1300-1799 86 Capital Inflows and Default: An "Old World" Story 89 External Sovereign Default after 1800: A Global Picture 89 PART III: The Forgotten History of Domestic Debt and Default 101 Chapter 7: The Stylized Facts of Domestic Debt and Default 103 Domestic and External Debt 103 Maturity, Rates of Return, and Currency Composition 105 Episodes of Domestic Default 110 Some Caveats Regarding Domestic Debt 111 Chapter 8: Domestic Debt: The Missing Link Explaining External Default and High Inflation 119 Understanding the Debt Intolerance Puzzle 119 Domestic Debt on the Eve and in the Aftermath of External Default 123 The Literature on Inflation and the "Inflation Tax" 124 Defining the Tax Base: Domestic Debt or the Monetary Base? 125 The "Temptation to Inflate" Revisited 127 Chapter 9: Domestic and External Default: Which Is Worse? Who Is Senior? 128 Real GDP in the Run-up to and the Aftermath of Debt Defaults 129 Inflation in the Run-up to and the Aftermath of Debt Defaults 129 The Incidence of Default on Debts Owed to External and Domestic Creditors 133 Summary and Discussion of Selected Issues 136 PART IV: Banking Crises, Inflation, and Currency Crashes 139 Chapter 10: Banking Crises 141 A Preamble on the Theory of Banking Crises 143 Banking Crises: An Equal-Opportunity Menace 147 Banking Crises, Capital Mobility, and Financial Liberalization 155 Capital Flow Bonanzas, Credit Cycles, and Asset Prices 157 Overcapacity Bubbles in the Financial Industry? 162 The Fiscal Legacy of Financial Crises Revisited 162 Living with the Wreckage: Some Observations 171 Chapter 11: Default through Debasement: An "Old World Favorite" 174 Chapter 12: Inflation and Modern Currency Crashes 180 An Early History of Inflation Crises 181 Modern Inflation Crises: Regional Comparisons 182 Currency Crashes 189 The Aftermath of High Inflation and Currency Collapses 191 Undoing Domestic Dollarization 193 PART V: The U.S. Subprime Meltdown and the Second Great Contraction 199 Chapter 13: The U.S. Subprime Crisis: An International and Historical Comparison 203 A Global Historical View of the Subprime Crisis and Its Aftermath 204 The This-Time-Is-Different Syndrome and the Run-up to the Subprime Crisis 208 Risks Posed by Sustained U.S. Borrowing from the Rest of the World: The Debate before the Crisis 208 The Episodes of Postwar Bank-Centered Financial Crisis 215 A Comparison of the Subprime Crisis with Past Crises in Advanced Economies 216 Summary 221 Chapter 14: The Aftermath of Financial Crises 223 Historical Episodes Revisited 225 The Downturn after a Crisis: Depth and Duration 226 The Fiscal Legacy of Crises 231 Sovereign Risk 232 Comparisons with Experiences from the First Great Contraction in the 1930s 233 Concluding Remarks 238 Chapter 15: The International Dimensions of the Subprime Crisis: The Results of Contagion or Common Fundamentals? 240 Concepts of Contagion 241 Selected Earlier Episodes 241 Common Fundamentals and the Second Great Contraction 242 Are More Spillovers Under Way? 246 Chapter 16: Composite Measures of Financial Turmoil 248 Developing a Composite Index of Crises: The BCDI Index 249 Defining a Global Financial Crisis 260 The Sequencing of Crises: A Prototype 270 Summary 273 PART VI: What Have We Learned? 275 Chapter 17: Reflections on Early Warnings, Graduation, Policy Responses, and the Foibles of Human Nature 277 On Early Warnings of Crises 278 The Role of International Institutions 281 Graduation 283 Some Observations on Policy Responses 287 The Latest Version of the This-Time-Is-Different Syndrome 290 DATA APPENDIXES 293 A.1. Macroeconomic Time Series 295 A.2. Public Debt 327 A.3. Dates of Banking Crises 344 A.4. Historical Summaries of Banking Crises 348 NOTES 393 REFERENCES 409 NAME INDEX 435 SUBJECT INDEX 443

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Book SynopsisWhen a plane crashes, a bomb explodes, a city floods or a pandemic begins, Lucy Easthope's phone starts to ring...________________THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEKPROFILED IN THE NEW YORKERCHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TELEGRAPH AND THE NEW STATESMANAS FEATURED ON THE HIGH PERFORMANCE PODCAST AND FULL DISCLOSURE WITH JAMES O'BRIEN "Mixes disaster-grade C.S.I. with hiraeth, a Welsh word expressing a deep longing for something that is gone" NEW YORKER"A marvellous book" REV RICHARD COLES"Amazing book by an amazing woman" JAMES O'BRIEN"Gripping... filled with compassion." SUNDAY TIMES"Remarkable... hopeful and uplifting." MAIL ON SUNDAY"An antidote to despair" DAILY MIRROR"Enthralling... vivid and humane" OBSERVERLucy is a world-leading authority on recovering from disaster. She holds governments to account, supports survivors and helps communities to rebuild. She has been at the centre of the most seismic events of the last few decades, advising on everything from the 2004 tsunami and the 7/7 bombings to the Grenfell fire and the war in Ukraine. Lucy's job is to pick up the pieces and get us ready for what comes next.Lucy takes us behind the police tape to scenes of chaos, and into government briefing rooms where confusion can reign. She also looks back at the many losses and loves of her life and career, and tells us how we can all build back after disaster.When the Dust Settles lifts us up, showing that humanity, hope and humour can - and must - be found on the darkest days.Trade ReviewNever less than reassuringly humane... She shows and tells and, vitally, cares. * Telegraph *An unlikely superhero... this gripping memoir is full of compassion. A remarkable insight into the decisions involved in disaster planning. * Sunday Times *Easthope, whether she knows it or not, is that rare thing, a genuine philosopher thinking through what she is actually doing in the mitigation of human suffering. * New Statesman *The disasters recalled here often read like short stories, each of them filled with high drama, surreal twists and mysteries to be solved. * Guardian *'A remarkable account...This should be a dark and depressing read; that it isn't, that it is ultimately hopeful and uplifting, is down to the utter human decency that the author represents' * Mail on Sunday *An essential, uplifting read, brimming with humanity, humility and humour. * Sue Black *An entirely unique vision of the human experience * Irish Times *Candid, unsettling and darkly funny * Sunday Post *Poignant, funny, analytical and profoundly humane * Perspective Magazine *Dauntless and forthright * TLS *Deeply humane, occasionally unsettling, and strangely uplifting * Irish Business Post *A book of horror and hope, written with rare humanity. * John Sutherland *When the Dust Settles taught me is that all experiences are of value... Easthope shows us how perfection and imperfection are woven together. Everything is flawed. Yet there is also hope despite the flaws. * Rachel Kelly *Her sensitive and profoundly moral book explores how human beings can preserve their resilience and live with loss. * New Statesman *Rewrites your perceptions of the disasters and wars of our lifetime with vivid details and vignettes... laced with humanity and decency. A literary memento which honours the messy truth of life.' * The Critic *An inspiring memoir. Easthope advises, supports and helps to rebuild lives. * Yorkshire Post *A riveting no-nonsense memoir that pulls back the curtains on your worst fears and shows you that someone, somewhere, will always truly care. * Jenny Colgan *Outstanding... a graphic but deeply humane account of what drew her to take on such work, and how she steels herself to tackle the worst of human scenarios. * The Bookseller *

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Book Synopsis''One of the most engrossing books I have ever read'' Daily TelegraphJohn Kenneth Galbraith''s now-classic account of the 1929 stock market collapse remains the definitive book on the most disastrous cycle of boom and bust in modern times.Vividly depicting the causes, effects, aftermath and long-term consequences of financial meltdown, Galbraith also describes the people and the corporations who were affected by the catastrophe. With its depiction of the ''gold-rush fantasy'' ingrained in America''s psychology, The Great Crash 1929 remains a penetrating study of human greed and folly.

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Book Synopsis** From the author of The Wall **''Effortlessly brilliant . . . hugely moving and outrageously funny.'' Observer''A treat to read.'' The Times''The great London novel of the twenty-first century.'' New Statesman''Brimming with perception, humane empathy and relish . . . a capital achievement.'' Sunday TimesA moving, funny and insightful story of one London street, its inhabitants, and a world-changing event.The residents of Pepys Road, London - a banker and his shopaholic wife, an elderly woman dying of a brain tumour, the Pakistani family who run the local shop, the young football star from Senegal and his minder - all receive anonymous postcards with a simple message: We Want What You Have. Who is behind it? What do they want?As the mystery of the postcards deepens, the world around Pepys Road is turned upside down by the financial crash and a

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Book SynopsisMariana Mazzucato is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL), where she is also Founder and Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Her widely published research focuses on the relationship between public policy, innovation, and economic growth and she advises policymakers around the world on how to steer innovation so that it produces growth that is more inclusive and sustainable. She is author of the highly acclaimed book The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths and co-editor of Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth. She is winner of the 2014 New Statesman SPERI Prize in Political Economy, the 2015 Hans-Matthöfer-Preis and the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. She was named as one of the 'three most important thinkers about innovation' in New Republic.Trade ReviewA stimulating analysis of the underlying causes of inequality and growth which forces us to confront long-held beliefs about how economies work and who benefits. ... The book itself adds value by forcing us to confront these points. -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *Someone should make a musical out of this book. That is quite unlikely, I grant you, but not as unlikely as it sounds. In 1893 the Savoy theatre staged Gilbert and Sullivan's penultimate operetta, Utopia, Limited ... It is time to rework the idea and Mariana Mazzucato is a candidate to write the libretto. -- Philip Collins * The Times *As Mariana Mazzucuto's new book, published today, explains, our economy has been financialised and no longer rewards real value creation. -- Chi Onwurah * New Statesman *Mariana Mazzucato ... argues that we urgently need to rethink where wealth comes from to heal a sick system. -- Richard Kilgarriff * Management Today *Mariana Mazzucato offers an exposé of how value extractors and rent-seekers have been masquerading as value creators in the global economy. And, furthermore, how the conventional wisdom has indulged them in this. -- Fran Boait * Prospect *In The Value of Everything, published last week, Mazzucato sharpens her focus, not only lauding the role of 'mission-oriented' public investment, but honing her critique of the private sector too. -- Liam Halligan * The Spectator *Some economists merely interpret the world in various ways; others seek to change it. Mariana Mazzucato is an exemplar of the latter kind. The Italian-American is a restless thinker drawn to transformative, disruptive projects. ... Mazzucato's mission is to overturn the now dominant neoclassical theory of value. In the mid-19th century, she explained, an intellectual revolution occurred: rather than value determining price, price began to determine value. -- George Eaton * New Statesman *The Value of Everything is receiving accolades on Twitter from finance ministers and student idealists alike, and is clearly set to be essential summer reading for civil servants. -- Delphine Strauss * Financial Times *Praise for The Entrepreneurial State: Conventional economics offers abstract models; conventional wisdom insists that the answer lies with private entrepreneurship. In this brilliant book, Mariana Mazzucato...argues that the former is useless and the latter incomplete. -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *One of the most incisive economic books in years. -- Jeffery Madrick * New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisWhile humanity continues to grapple with COVID-19 and its ramifications, Beyond COVID-19: Multidisciplinary Approaches and Outcomes on Diverse Fields provides a unique opportunity to foresee the repercussions of the pandemic across a range of fields through the lens of chaos and complexity theory. This book takes COVID-19 as a holistic event, providing an interesting analysis of this chaotic phenomenon with the contributions of multidisciplinary scholars. The expert views within this book come from a wide range of fields, from international relations to education and from sociology to law.Unique in terms of its content and contributions, the chapters within explore the various consequences of COVID-19 with the aim of attracting the attention of researchers, postgraduate students, practitioners, and policymakers.

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Book SynopsisPaul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics, shows how today's crisis parallels the events that caused the Great Depression - and explains what it will take to avoid catastrophe.In 1999, in The Return of Depression Economics, Paul Krugman surveyed the economic crises that had swept across Asia and Latin America, and warned that those crises were a warning for all of us: like diseases that have become resistant to antibiotics, the economic maladies that caused the Great Depression were making a comeback.In the years that followed, as Wall Street boomed and financial wheeler-dealers made vast profits, the international crises of the 1990s faded from memory. But now depression economics has come to America: when the great housing bubble of the mid-2000s burst, the U.S. financial system proved as vulnerable as those of developing countries caught up in earlier crises - and a replay of the 1930s seems all too possible. In this new, greatly updated edition of The Return of Depression Economics, Krugman shows how the failure of regulation to keep pace with an increasingly out-of-control financial system set the United States, and the world as a whole, up for the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s. He also lays out the steps that must be taken to contain the crisis, and turn around a world economy sliding into a deep recession. Brilliantly crafted in Krugman's trademark style-lucid, lively, and supremely informed - this new edition of The Return of Depression Economics will become an instant cornerstone of the debate over how to respond to the crisis.

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Book SynopsisA Wall Street Journal Bestseller Pulitzer Prize­­­-winning and New York Times bestselling financial journalist Gretchen Morgenson and financial policy analyst Joshua Rosner investigate the insidious world of private equity in this “masterpiece of investigative journalism” (Christopher Leonard, bestselling author of Kochland)—revealing how it puts our entire economy and us at risk.Much has been written about the widening gulf between rich and poor and how our style of capitalism has failed to provide a living wage for so many Americans. But nothing has fully detailed the outsized role a small cohort of elite financiers has played in this inequality. Pulitzer Prize­-winning journalist and bestselling author Gretchen Morgenson, with coauthor Joshua Rosner, unmask the small group of celebrated Wall Street financiers, and their government enablers, who use excessive debt and dubious practices to undermi

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Book SynopsisFew events have posed as many challenges for retirement and retirement policy as the crisis of the late 2000s. At the end of the last decade, the United States experienced the Great Recessiona combination of unprecedented wealth losses and historically high unemployment increases that marked the longest economic recession since the Great Depression. These adverse economic shocks coincided with the burgeoning entry into retirement by the baby boomer generation, those born in the United States between 1946 and 1964. The confluence of these trends meant that retirees may have faced greater economic insecurity than at any point since World War II. This book brings together a number of influential researchers whose work is focused on economic policies and their impacts on retirement income security. They come from both academic and policy backgrounds. Specifically, half of the eight contributors are academics, while the other four come from think tanks in Washington, DC. This book is thuTable of Contents1. Introduction Christian E. Weller 2. Prelude to a RIF: Older Workers, Part-Time Hours and Unemployment Jeremy Reynolds and Jeffrey B. Wenger 3. The Impact of the Housing Crash on the Wealth of the Baby Boom Cohorts David Rosnick and Dean Baker 4. What Will Happen to Retirement Income for 401(k) Participants After the Market Decline? Jack VanDerhei 5. Did Retirees Save Enough to Compensate for the Increase in Individual Risk Exposure? Christian E. Weller 6. Early Retiree and Near-Elderly Health Insurance in Recession Elise Gould and Alexander Hertel-Fernandez 7. The (Interconnected) Reasons that Elder Americans File Consumer Bankruptcy Deborah Thorne 8. Reforming Retirement: Values and Self-Interest Drive Support for Policy Reform in Opposite Directions David Madland 9. How to Supplement Social Security Fairly and Effectively Teresa Ghilarducci

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TELEGRAPH AND THE NEW STATESMAN"A marvellous book" Rev Richard Coles"Gripping... filled with compassion." Sunday Times"Remarkable... hopeful and uplifting." Mail on Sunday"An antidote to despair" Daily Mirror"Enthralling... vivid and humane" Observer"Exemplary" New StatesmanWhen a plane crashes, a bomb explodes, a city floods or a pandemic begins, Lucy Easthope's phone starts to ring.Lucy is a world-leading authority on recovering from disaster. She holds governments to account, supports survivors and helps communities to rebuild. She has been at the centre of the most seismic events of the last few decades, advising on everything from the 2004 tsunami and the 7/7 bombings to the Grenfell fire and the war in Ukraine. Lucy's job is to pick up the pieces and get us ready for what comes next.Lucy takes us behind the police tape to scenes of chaos, and into government briefing rooms where confusion can reign. She also looks back at the many losses and loves of her life and career, and tells us how we can all build back after disaster.When the Dust Settles lifts us up, showing that humanity, hope and humour can - and must - be found on the darkest days.Trade ReviewNever less than reassuringly humane... She shows and tells and, vitally, cares. * Telegraph *An unlikely superhero... this gripping memoir is full of compassion. A remarkable insight into the decisions involved in disaster planning. * Sunday Times *Easthope, whether she knows it or not, is that rare thing, a genuine philosopher thinking through what she is actually doing in the mitigation of human suffering. * New Statesman *The disasters recalled here often read like short stories, each of them filled with high drama, surreal twists and mysteries to be solved. * Guardian *'A remarkable account...This should be a dark and depressing read; that it isn't, that it is ultimately hopeful and uplifting, is down to the utter human decency that the author represents' * Mail on Sunday *An essential, uplifting read, brimming with humanity, humility and humour. * Sue Black *An entirely unique vision of the human experience * Irish Times *Candid, unsettling and darkly funny * Sunday Post *Poignant, funny, analytical and profoundly humane * Perspective Magazine *Dauntless and forthright * TLS *Deeply humane, occasionally unsettling, and strangely uplifting * Irish Business Post *A book of horror and hope, written with rare humanity. * John Sutherland *When the Dust Settles taught me is that all experiences are of value... Easthope shows us how perfection and imperfection are woven together. Everything is flawed. Yet there is also hope despite the flaws. * Rachel Kelly *Her sensitive and profoundly moral book explores how human beings can preserve their resilience and live with loss. * New Statesman *Rewrites your perceptions of the disasters and wars of our lifetime with vivid details and vignettes... laced with humanity and decency. A literary memento which honours the messy truth of life.' * The Critic *An inspiring memoir. Easthope advises, supports and helps to rebuild lives. * Yorkshire Post *A riveting no-nonsense memoir that pulls back the curtains on your worst fears and shows you that someone, somewhere, will always truly care. * Jenny Colgan *Outstanding... a graphic but deeply humane account of what drew her to take on such work, and how she steels herself to tackle the worst of human scenarios. * The Bookseller *Never less than reassuringly humane... She shows and tells and, vitally, cares. * Telegraph *An unlikely superhero... this gripping memoir is full of compassion. A remarkable insight into the decisions involved in disaster planning. * Sunday Times *Easthope, whether she knows it or not, is that rare thing, a genuine philosopher thinking through what she is actually doing in the mitigation of human suffering. * New Statesman *The disasters recalled here often read like short stories, each of them filled with high drama, surreal twists and mysteries to be solved. * Guardian *'A remarkable account...This should be a dark and depressing read; that it isn't, that it is ultimately hopeful and uplifting, is down to the utter human decency that the author represents' * Mail on Sunday *An essential, uplifting read, brimming with humanity, humility and humour. * Sue Black *An entirely unique vision of the human experience * Irish Times *Candid, unsettling and darkly funny * Sunday Post *Poignant, funny, analytical and profoundly humane * Perspective Magazine *Dauntless and forthright * TLS *Deeply humane, occasionally unsettling, and strangely uplifting * Irish Business Post *A book of horror and hope, written with rare humanity. * John Sutherland *When the Dust Settles taught me is that all experiences are of value... Easthope shows us how perfection and imperfection are woven together. Everything is flawed. Yet there is also hope despite the flaws. * Rachel Kelly *Her sensitive and profoundly moral book explores how human beings can preserve their resilience and live with loss. * New Statesman *Rewrites your perceptions of the disasters and wars of our lifetime with vivid details and vignettes... laced with humanity and decency. A literary memento which honours the messy truth of life.' * The Critic *An inspiring memoir. Easthope advises, supports and helps to rebuild lives. * Yorkshire Post *A riveting no-nonsense memoir that pulls back the curtains on your worst fears and shows you that someone, somewhere, will always truly care. * Jenny Colgan *Outstanding... a deeply humane account of what drew her to take on such work, and how she steels herself to tackle the worst of human scenarios. * The Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisThis is a book that none of us can afford to ignore – an agenda-setting, campaigning investigation that shows how global finance works for the few and not the many.** A Financial Times Book of the Year **‘Essential reading’ YANIS VAROUFAKISWe need finance – but when finance grows too big it becomes a curse.The City of London is the single biggest drain on our resources, sucking talent out of every sphere, siphoning wealth and hoovering up government time. Yet to be ‘competitive’, we’re told we must turn a blind eye to money laundering and appease big business with tax cuts.Tracing the curse back through economic history, Nicholas Shaxson uncovers how we got to this point. Moving from offshore tax havens to the bizarre industry of wealth management, he tells the explosive story of how finance established a stranglehold on society – and reveals how we can begin to break free.‘A radical, urgent and important manifesto for improving our country’ Oliver Bullough, Observer‘Superbly written… A must-read’ Misha Glenny, author of McMafia‘Hard-hitting, well written and informative’ Financial TimesTrade ReviewUtterly convincing… The Finance Curse is a radical and important manifesto for improving Britain -- Oliver Bullough, author of MONEYLANDThis is a splendid polemic against modern finance, in general, and the City of London, in particular. It is hard-hitting, well written and informative. Instead of enabling productive investment, the predominant activity of contemporary finance is rent extraction. This comes in many different guises: modern finance does not only promote tax avoidance and evasion, but, argues Shaxson, enables gangsterism and corruption on an enormous scale. I fear he is right. -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *This superbly written book shows definitively how global finance has been grossly mis-sold to us all. It’s a must-read for anyone who lives, works and spends in this country -- MISHA GLENNY, author of McMafiaGripping . . . a superbly written overview * Times Literary Supplement *Searing… Shaxson has form on being prescient ... his ideas should not be dismissed lightly -- Caroline Binham * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisWhy do stock and housing markets sometimes experience amazing booms followed by massive busts and why is this happening more and more frequently? In order to answer these questions, William Quinn and John D. Turner take us on a riveting ride through the history of financial bubbles, visiting, among other places, Paris and London in 1720, Latin America in the 1820s, Melbourne in the 1880s, New York in the 1920s, Tokyo in the 1980s, Silicon Valley in the 1990s and Shanghai in the 2000s. As they do so, they help us understand why bubbles happen, and why some have catastrophic economic, social and political consequences whilst others have actually benefited society. They reveal that bubbles start when investors and speculators react to new technology or political initiatives, showing that our ability to predict future bubbles will ultimately come down to being able to predict these sparks.Trade Review'Where do financial bubbles come from? Can – and should – policy makers always try to stop them? Can investors avoid them? Quinn and Turner take us on an informative, engaging tour of the last three hundred years of bubbles and, using history as their guide, provide intriguing answers.' Richard S. Grossman, author of WRONG: Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn from Them.'Quinn and Turner argue that the essential elements of capital markets: money, credit and speculation are also the necessary ingredients of financial bubbles. Can we have one without the other?' William Goetzmann, author of Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible'Quinn and Turner have made a major contribution to the literature on financial speculation and the bubbles to which they contribute. Not only do they provide an analytical dissection of ten salient episodes over some 300 years, they embed these narratives in an explanatory framework – the 'bubble triangle' – that links the relative marketability of financial assets and the supply of credit to speculative excess. Thus, Boom and Bust shows how to mine history for meaning, with lessons relevant today for investors and policy-makers alike.' Bill Janeway, author of Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy: Reconfiguring the Three-Player Game between Markets, Speculators and the State'For anyone interested in financial history, Boom and Bust is essential reading.' John Plender, Financial Times'An action-packed romp through ten of the biggest bubbles and busts of the past three centuries … Some (most) finance books are arid and hard-going; this one I couldn't put down.' Alistair Haimes, The Critic'A lovely book. It describes and draws lessons from ten financial manias, from the South Sea Bubble to 'Casino Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics'. It also explains bubbles with what the authors call 'the bubble triangle'. Its three sides consists of oxygen, which is the 'marketability' of assets, fuel, which is 'money and credit' and heat, which is 'speculation'. This combination recurs repeatedly and so do bubbles. Just like fires, financial manias and crashes are destructive, but they can also be useful, by clearing out dead wood.' Martin Wolf, Financial Times, Best Books of 2020'A readable and impressively researched title to be enjoyed by the generalist or specialist.' Niall McGarrigle, Irish Times'Written with exquisite concision and packing a wealth of detail and citation into each chapter, Boom and Bust is an instant classic.' Rebecca L. Spang, Times Literary Supplement'This wonderful book is interesting, informative, and insightful … Highly recommended.' R. M. Whaples, ChoiceTable of ContentsList of figures; List of tables; 1. The bubble triangle; 2. 1720 and the invention of the bubble; 3. Marketability revived: the first emerging market bubble; 4. Democratising speculation: the great railway mania; 5. Other people's money: the Australian land boom; 6. Wheeler-dealers: the British bicycle mania; 7. The roaring twenties and the Wall Street Crash; 8. Blowing bubbles for political purposes: Japan in the 1980s; 9. The dot-com bubble; 10. 'No more boom and bust': the subprime bubble; 11. Casino capitalism with Chinese characteristics; 12. Predicting bubbles; Acknowledgements; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisAuster''s novel of love and forgiveness from the author of contemporary classic The New York Trilogy: ''a literary voice for the ages'' (Guardian) Sunset Park is set in the sprawling flatlands of Florida, where twenty-eight-year-old Miles is photographing the last lingering traces of families who have abandoned their houses due to debt or foreclosure. Miles is haunted by guilt for having inadvertently caused the death of his step-brother, a situation that caused him to flee his father and step-mother in New York seven years ago.What keeps him in Florida is his relationship with a teenage high-school girl, Pilar, but when her family threatens to expose their relationship, Miles decides to protect Pilar by going back to Brooklyn, where he settles in a squat to prepare himself to face the inevitable confrontation with his father - a confrontation he has been avoiding for years.Set against the backdrop of the devastating global rece

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Book SynopsisHow did we get to where we are? John Cassidy shows that the roots of our most recent financial failure lie not with individuals, but with an idea - the idea that markets are inherently rational. He gives us the big picture behind the financial headlines, tracing the rise and fall of free market ideology from Adam Smith to Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan. Full of wit, sense and, above all, a deeper understanding, How Markets Fail argues for the end of ''utopian'' economics, and the beginning of a pragmatic, reality-based way of thinking.Trade ReviewA very good history of economic thought * Economist *How Markets Fail offers a brilliant intellectual framework . . . fine work * New York Times *An essential, grittily intellectual, yet compelling guide to the financial debacle of 2009 * Geordie Greig, Evening Standard *A powerful argument . . . Cassidy makes a compelling case that a return to hands-off economics would be a disaster * BusinessWeek *This book is a well constructed, thoughtful and cogent account of how capitalism evolved to its current form * Telegraph Books of the Year recommendation *John Cassidy ... describe[s] that mix of insight and madness that brought the world's system to its knees * FT, Book of the Year recommendation *Anyone who enjoys a good read can safely embark on this tour with Cassidy as their guide . . . Like his colleague Malcolm Gladwell [at the New Yorker], Cassidy is able to lead us with beguiling lucidity through unfamiliar territory * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisIn this myth-busting book Nouriel Roubini shows that everything we think about economics is wrong. Financial crises are not unpredictable ''black swans'', but an inherent part of capitalism. Only by remaking our financial systems to acknowledge this, can we get out of the mess we''re in. Will there be another recession, and if so what shape? When will the next bubble occur? What can we do about it? Here Roubini gives the answers, and lists his commandments for the future.Trade ReviewSuccinct, lucid and compelling ... essential reading -- Michiko Kakutani * The New York Times *His was one of the few voices in the economics profession to have correctly predicted the crisis ... broad, well-argued and easy to digest * Independent *This is a wake-up call * Observer *Nouriel Roubini was right -- Paul Krugman * Time *The seer who saw it coming * The New York Times *The man known as "Dr Doom" has been hailed as a prophet * Financial Times *The only professional economist who really predicted the crisis, and perhaps the only independent thinker in that business -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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Book SynopsisThe bankruptcy of the investment bank Lehman Brothers was the pivotal event of the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession that followed. Ever since the bankruptcy, there has been heated debate about why the Federal Reserve did not rescue Lehman in the same way it rescued other financial institutions, such as Bear Stearns and AIG. The Fed''s leaders from that time, especially former Chairman Ben Bernanke, have strongly asserted that they lacked the legal authority to save Lehman because it did not have adequate collateral for the loan it needed to survive. Based on a meticulous four-year study of the Lehman case, The Fed and Lehman Brothers debunks the official narrative of the crisis. It shows that in reality, the Fed could have rescued Lehman but officials chose not to because of political pressures and because they underestimated the damage that the bankruptcy would do to the economy. The compelling story of the Lehman collapse will interest anyone who cares about what caused Trade Review'What caused the financial crisis of 2008? Are policymakers ready to handle the next one? These are key questions for anyone interested in economic history and policy. In the past decade, a conventional wisdom has developed about the answers. Yet a new book questions that orthodoxy, offering a more disturbing perspective on the past and a less sanguine prognosis for the future.' The New York Times'Ten years after the Lehman Brothers collapse, one might think that it's time to end the debate over its causes. Laurence M. Ball, an economics professor at The Johns Hopkins, doesn't agree. He makes a persuasive case that a key lesson remains overlooked: that the Lehman failure and the market crash that followed didn't have to happen and that the political response, the 2010 Dodd-Frank banking law, has made future financial crises more likely, not less … Mr Ball's argument that Dodd-Frank contains the seeds of further politically motivated fiascoes is persuasive - and worrisome.' Wall Street Journal'Laurence M. Ball has produced a brilliant and riveting study of the most important moment of modern financial history: the failure of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. In a remarkably detailed and careful analysis Ball argues that decisions were driven by politics rather than sound policy. In short, this is a must-read masterpiece of financial and historical analysis.' Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University, New York'Government failure to rescue Lehman Brothers investment bank, and its bankruptcy in September 2008, precipitated a monumental financial crisis. Laurence M. Ball combs through a mass of documents, and presents a new and quite disturbing perspective on the events. Some may disagree with his take, but it is a milestone in the historical analysis of the crisis.' Andrei Shleifer, Harvard University, Massachusetts'A monumental piece of scholarship that is essential for understanding the financial crisis of 2008 - and the Great Recession that followed. Meticulous, gripping, and compelling.' David Romer, Herman Royer Professor of Political Economy, University of California, Berkeley'With unprecedented and exciting investigative research, Laurence M. Ball convincingly puts forth an important new view of the financial crisis, uncovering fundamental inconsistencies in the government's often-told story of its role in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and the panic of 2008. He shows that the Fed could have legally prevented the bankruptcy, but didn't do so either because of political concerns or a botched implementation of its game plan.' John B. Taylor, Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics, Stanford University'The official narrative of any crisis is not always the most accurate. Professor Laurence M. Ball's authoritative account of Lehman's demise debunks the Fed's narrative of the calamity and raises uncomfortable questions about the Fed's inconsistent use of its discretionary authority. This captivating book should be required reading for anyone with a stake in preventing the next financial collapse.' Athanasios Orphanides, Massachusetts Institute of Technology'Ball supports his hypothesis with ample documentation. Whether readers come away convinced that the Fed made a grievous error in not being the lender of last resort to Lehman will probably depend on their view of the Fed. And even if future Fed leaders 'take the Lehman lesson to heart', they may be hamstrung in their actions.' Brenda Jubin, Talk Markets (www.talkmarkets.com)'Laurence Ball's new book The Fed and Lehman Brothers is an excellent book on the 2008 Financial Crisis … This is a valuable lesson I have learned from Professor Ball's explanation of how the Fed could have saved Lehman. Merely by broadening the types of collateral accepted for cash funding from the Fed and maintaining the functioning of the repo market, the Fed can ensure solvent financial institutions being able to withstand the turbulence of financial crisis.' Seeking Alpha (www.seekingalpha.com)'The bank that precipitated the [financial] crisis was Lehman Brothers. In The Fed and Lehman Brothers, [Laurence M. Ball], a senior American economics professor, has written an entire book on this episode, based on a careful archival reconstruction of events. His findings are fascinating and significant, and so is his villain: not Lehman Brothers but the Federal Reserve.' Paul Collier, The Times Literary SupplementTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. The crisis of 2008; 3. The legal criteria for Fed assistance; 4. Lehman's balance sheet and solvency; 5. Lehman's liquidity crisis; 6. Lehman's collateral and the feasibility of liquidity support; 7. Fed discussions of collateral and liquidity support; 8. Fed actions that ensured Lehman's bankruptcy; 9. Possible long-term outcomes for Lehman; 10. How risky were the Fed's rescues of other firms?; 11. Who decided that Lehman should fail?; 12. Explaining the Lehman decision; 13. Conclusion; References; Endnotes; Index.

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Book SynopsisAn eloquent and devastating analysis in comic-book form of our economic world - and what makes us tick.

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Book SynopsisFrom Black Monday to the Asian financial crisis, from the internet bubble to mortgage meltdown, our lives are ruled by crazy cycles of euphoria and hysteria that manage to grip the world but are all-too-soon forgotten. In this unique collection of articles Michael Lewis - ex-trader and bestselling chronicler of greed and frenzy in the markets - casts a sceptical eye back over the most panicked-about panics of recent decades. He tells a story of boom and bust, deranged greed, outsized egos and over-inflated salaries, where the only thing that can ever be predicted is our constant inability to predict anything. Using contemporary accounts from commentators such as Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs and Paul Krugman, plus many of his own best writings, Lewis conveys the mood before each catastrophe, what it was like in the heat of the moment, how, afterwards, we tried to explain away the chaos - and then failed to learn from it before the whole process started all over agai

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Book SynopsisWe are living in a time of crisis which has cascaded through society. Financial crisis has led to an economic crisis of recession and unemployment; an ensuing fiscal crisis over government deficits and austerity has led to a political crisis which threatens to become a democratic crisis.Trade Review"This extraordinary book gives us a sharp and illuminating examination of a condition that it is easy to think we understand � until we read this book. We may all be touched by it but Walby shows us all that is actually mobilized in producing the outcomes."Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, author of Expulsions"Sylvia Walby�s new complexity theory analysis of the current crises adds an essential dimension, addressing the financial, economic, welfare state and political ramifications of the crisis as strongly connected dynamics. She convincingly argues why the conflict between democracy and capitalism can only be resolved through a deepening of democracy. As such, her book is an indispensable academic intervention in the politics of knowledge and empowers academics, politicians and citizens alike to address crisis."Mieke Verloo, Radboud University "A lucid text that ranges across disciplines yet maintains accessibility for a wide readership including sociologists, policy communities, students, and activists. [Walby] has produced a book that comfortably straddles the alleged divides among professional, policy, public, and critical sociology�Crisis makes signal contributions to sociological analysis and presents a pragmatic alternative to neoliberalism, which could be fairly readily implemented." American Journal of SociologyTable of ContentsAcknowledgements1 Introduction2 Theorizing Crisis3 Financial Crisis4 Economic Crisis: Recession5 Fiscal Crisis: Austerity6 Democratic Crisis7 Crisis in the Gender Regime8 Conclusions: Implications for Social Theory and Public PolicyReferences

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Book SynopsisThe global financial crisis of 2007–8 did not offer the political and economic opportunities to the left that many thought it would. As financial institutions collapsed, traditional left-wing issues were apparently back on the agenda. However, instead of being a trigger for a resurgence of the left, in many European countries left-wing parties have suffered savage electoral defeat. At the same time, the crisis has led to austerity programmes being implemented across Europe. This book brings together essays that consider ten EU member states, including all bail-out recipients and some of the main 'donor' states, in an examination of this crucial period for the left in Europe from a number of perspectives. Comparisons are presented between the various EU member states, as well as different party families of the left, from social democracy through green left to radical left.Table of ContentsList of figures and tables Notes on contributors Glossary and abbreviations 1 The European left and the crisis: opportunity or catastrophe? Michael Holmes and Knut Roder 2 The Greek left and the crisis: the demise of PASOK and the rise of SYRIZANikolaos Nikolakakis3 The changing nature of the Spanish left: an uncertain balanceCarlos Rico Motos4 Geringonça: the Portuguese left approach to the crisisCláudia Toriz Ramos5 ‘Frankfurt’s way or Labour’s way’: the Irish left and the crisisMichael Holmes6 The Cypriot Left and the crisis: one step forward, two steps back Yiannos Katsourides7 The Italian left and the crisis: the case of Matteo Renzi’s Partito DemocraticoJorge del Palacio Martín8 The financial crisis and the curse of Latvian left partiesKarlis Bukovskis and Ilvija Bruge9 Navigating through troubled times: the left and the euro crisis in FinlandTapio Raunio10 Take a walk on the left side: the impact of austerity politics in FranceAntonella Seddone and Julien Navarro11 In the shadow of Merkel: the German left and the crisisKnut Roder12 Between Scylla and Charybdis: Europe, nationalism and left politics Andy Storey13 Alter-Europeanism? The left and European integration after the crisis?Michael Holmes and Knut RoderIndex

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Book SynopsisThis is the definitive account of the Royal Bank of Scotland scandal. For a few brief months in 2007 and 2009, the Royal Bank of Scotland was the largest bank in the world. Then the Edinburgh-based giant - having rapidly grown its footprint to 55 countries and stretched its assets to £2.4 trillion under its hubristic and delinquent former boss Fred Goodwin - crashed to earth. In Shredded, Ian Fraser explores the series of cataclysmic misjudgments, the toxic internal culture and the 'light touch' regulatory regime that gave rise to RBS/NatWest's near-collapse. He also considers why it became the most expensive bank in the world to bail out and why a culture of impunity was allowed to develop in the banking sector. This new edition brings the story up to date, chronicling the string of scandals that have come to light since taxpayers rescued RBS and concluding with an evaluation of the attempts of the bank's post-crisis chief executives, Stephen Hester and Ross McEwan, to dismantle Goodwin's disastrous legacy and restore the damaged institutions to health. 'A gripping account - RBS was a rogue business, operating in what had become a rogue industry, with the connivance of government. Read it and weep' – Martin Woolf, Financial TimesTrade Review'A riveting read' -- Joris Luyendijk * The Guardian *'The definitive account of degenerate financial capitalism' -- Iain Macwhirter * The Herald *'Tumultuous ... profoundly shocking' -- Kevin McKenna * The Observer *'Shredded is a magnificent book. I regard it as one of the best investigative books of the past decade' -- Eamonn O'Neill * BBC Radio Scotland *'A gripping account - RBS was a rogue business, operating in what had become a rogue industry, with the connivance of government. Read it and weep' -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times * 'A model of the journalist's craft, Zola-esque in its broad and unsparing study of corporate hubris and nemesis and haunting in the questions it leaves in its wake' -- Bill Jamieson * Scotsman *'Impeccably researched and hard to put down at any point - the author pulls no punches' -- Philip Augar * Financial Times * 'Explosive' -- Tom Harper * Independent on Sunday *'Combines Greek tragedy with real-life events that have affected us all. It's hard to put down' -- Devraj Ray * Mortgage Strategy * 'I don't think I have ever read such a perfect morality tale for our times' -- Iona Bain * FT Adviser *'The definitive text. I'm thinking of Barbarians at the Gate, about Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and RJR Nabisco. An instant classic' -- Max Keiser * The Keiser Report *'You should absolutely read Ian Fraser's Shredded. It is probably the definitive work on the British and Irish banks in the Great Bubble and the ensuing Great Financial Crisis' -- Alexander Harrowell * The Yorkshire Ranter *'Engrossing, fascinating and appalling - a fast-paced and sickeningly-depressing exposition of what can go wrong when corporate governance fails' -- Ruth Bender, Cranfield University'Magisterial - the most detailed catalogue to date of the errors and misdemeanours leading up to RBS's 2008 collapse and the failure -- in Fraser's view -- to reform the bank in its aftermath' -- Colin Donald * Herald *'A rattling good read. Hubris, nemesis. Truly shocking' -- Paul Rogerson * Law Society Gazette *'A manual for understanding banks, the financial crisis, and also corporate greed and hubris' -- P.C. Dettman'The definitive account of the RBS fiasco. It's an engaging tale of how self-serving bank executives systematically broke the rules, lent with astonishing recklessness, abused customers and got suckered by Wall Street - before dumping their mess on the taxpayers' -- Yves Smith, author of Naked Capitalism'Nearly six years after the bailout, Shredded reminds us how much of banking reform is still a work in progress' -- Nick Dunbar * nickdunbar.net * 'Ian Fraser has produced a genuine page turner' -- Alex Marsh * Pieria *'The best financial book I've ever read. Thank you, Ian, for a public service' -- Simon Bain * Herald *'Not just the definitive book on the collapse of RBS but one of the best five books on the great financial collapse which changed the history of the 21st century. Ian pulls no punches in his conclusions' -- Russell Napier * CLSA *'This book should be posted through the letterbox of every taxpayer in Britain' -- David Mellor, former Chief Secretary to the Treasury

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewRobert J. Shiller, Co-Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics A New York Times Bestseller Winner of the 2000 Commonfund Prize for the Best Contribution to Endowment Management Research "Robert J. Shiller ... has done more than any other economist of his generation to document the less rational aspects of financial markets."--Paul Krugman, New York Times "Irrational Exuberance is not just a prophecy of doom... [I]t is a serious attempt to explain how speculative bubbles come about and how they sustain themselves."--John Cassidy, New Yorker "What set off this speculation and what feeds it? Shiller ranges widely his explanations, laying them out in the first 168 pages in easy-to-read, sometimes passionate prose... [T]hose first 168 pages are must reading for anyone with savings invested in stocks."--Louis Uchitelle, New York Times Book Review "Mr. Shiller's book offers a dose of realism... [I]t presents a message investors would be wise to head: Make sure your portfolio is adequately diversified. Save more and don't count on double-digit gains of the past decades continuing to bail you out during retirement."--Burton G. Malkiel, Wall Street Journal "Informative and well-argued ... A calm and reasonable antidote to today's euphoria."--Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Books "Although its message may be unwelcome to many, this important book should be read by anyone interested in economics or the stock markets."--Rene M. Stulz, Science "Dazzling, richly textured, provocative . . By far the most important book about the stock market since Jeremy J. Siegel's Stocks for the Long Run."--William Wolman, Business Week "Shiller has provided an accessible guide to the usually impenetrable literature on financial markets, especially the American stock market."--Foreign Affairs "Shiller contends that investor psychology is so given to herd behavior that it's almost impossible to manipulate or even influence. The market can 'go through significant mispricing lasting years or even decades.'"--Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post "Irrational Exuberance should be compulsory reading for anybody interested in Wall Street or financially exposed to it; at the moment, that would be roughly everybody in the United States."--Economist "[An] excellent new book... If you want to preserve capital, unload most of your stocks and invest in government bonds."--Steve H. Hanke, Forbes "Likely to be the year's most-talked-about finance book... You can agree or disagree with it. But you owe it to yourself to read it if you are investing in equities or contemplating doing so."--Fred Barbash, International Herald Tribune "Irrational Exuberance is likely to cause a stir... Shiller illustrates how the current market is like a naturally occurring Ponzi scheme in which investors become promoters for the game after receiving initial payments with money taken from subsequent investors."--David Henry, USA Today "Irrational Exuberance is not billed as a personal finance book. But it is. You can agree or disagree with it. But you owe it to yourself to read it if you're investing, or contemplating investing, in inequities."--The Washington Post "A must-read ... Refreshing, well-reasoned ... And very readable."--Michael P. Niemira, Barron's "So why have share prices soared so high in the past five years, taking market valuations past all historical records? Professor Shiller's answer, as the title indicates, is not encouraging. His message is: diversify now as much as you can, and batten down the hatches."--Diane Coyle, Independent "Shiller has written a crystal-clear and tough-minded critique."--David Warsh, Boston Globe "The point of Irrational Exuberance is not to help investors dump their houses before the current exuberance fades. It is to deepen our understanding of the events we are watching as one bubble gives birth to another and to encourage readers to think about economic behavior and economic policies that can cushion the nasty side of volatility."--Sharon Reier, The International Herald Tribune "The first edition of this book was widely read because of its timing. This one, too, seems perfectly timed, coming when we're starting to fear we've been fooling ourselves. Again... There's a world of important information for everyone."--Lyn Miller, USA Today "The second edition's new component ... is Shiller's exploration of how market psychology has responded to the ensuing five years of retrenchment. One chilling conclusion he reaches from his knowledge of past market performance is that the 2005 market may still be correcting and that a return to 2000 levels may be a decade away. He further warns that many investors are still too heavily invested in equities and that proposals to invest Social Security funds in the stock market would subject the retirement system to unacceptable risk. Shiller expands his focus to include the booming real estate market where he sees another speculative bubble building."--Library Journal "There's plenty of new material in this edition... Chief among the new additions is Shiller's deeper focus on recent excesses in the stock market and his skepticism about investing in real estate... Shiller's ideas have so many devoted followers that I wouldn't be surprised to see many more editions."--Angele McQuade, BetterInvesting "Yale University Professor Robert Shiller pretty much called the stock market drop when this book was first published in 2000. In this fact-packed book, Shiller describes the psychological origins of volatility, among other things. And in the newest edition, Shiller compares the recent housing boom to the stock market bubble of the 1990s."--Registered Rep. "[Shiller] fully updates his argument here, adding new material (a chapter on the bond market, his 2013 Nobel lecture) and augmenting the text to reflect developments since the 2005 second edition. He vacuums up all manner of cultural phenomena, from the important (rising income inequality) to the possibly significant (Google Glass) to the trivial (Kim Kardashian), to reinforce his thesis, and he writes expressively, whether explaining arcane economic issues or illustrating how the story behind Mona Lisa's smile helps account for the painting's astonishing market value. A rare example of economic analysis, deeply respected within the discipline, wholly accessible to general readers."--Kirkus "A superb, well-written, well-argued contribution for serious scholars and practitioners, whether they agree with Shiller or not."--Choice "Shiller provides an excellent synthesis of all the evidence contradicting the efficient market hypothesis, especially how a form of irrational exuberance sometimes leads to price bubbles... Without any doubt, Irrational Exuberance must be read by anyone interested in finance. And it really can be read by anyone interested in finance because the genius of this book is to explain complex phenomena easily, avoiding specialist jargon, including mathematics."--David Le Bris, Journal of EconomicsTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables ix Preface to the Third Edition xi Preface to the Second Edition, 2005 xix Preface to the First Edition, 2000 xxv Acknowledgments xxxi 1 The Stock Market in Historical Perspective 1 2 The Bond Market in Historical Perspective 11 3 The Real Estate Market in Historical Perspective 18 Part 1 Structural Factors 4 Precipitating Factors: The Internet, the Capitalist Explosion, and Other Events 39 5 Amplification Mechanisms: Naturally Occurring Ponzi Processes 70 Part 2 Cultural Factors 6 The News Media 101 7 New Era Economic Thinking 123 8 New Eras and Bubbles around the World 150 Part 3 Psychological Factors 9 Psychological Anchors for the Market 165 10 Herd Behavior and Epidemics 175 Part 4 Attempts to Rationalize Exuberance 11 Efficient Markets, Random Walks, and Bubbles 195 12 Investor Learning-and Unlearning 214 Part 5 A Call to Action 13 Speculative Volatility in a Free Society 225 Appendix Nobel Prize Lecture: Speculative Asset Prices 239 Notes 281 References 321 Index 339

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Book Synopsis''A fearless and important book . . . The End of Alchemy isn''t just an elegant guide to the history of economic ideas. It also gives a genuine insider''s account'' TelegraphThe past twenty years saw unprecedented growth and stability followed by the worst financial crisis the industrialised world has ever witnessed. In the space of little more than a year what had been seen as the age of wisdom was viewed as the age of foolishness. Almost overnight, belief turned into incredulity. Most accounts of the recent crisis focus on the symptoms and not the underlying causes of what went wrong. But those events, vivid though they remain in our memories, comprised only the latest in a long series of financial crises since our present system of commerce became the cornerstone of modern capitalism. Alchemy explains why, ultimately, this was and remains a crisis not of banking - even if we need to reform the banking system - nor of policy-making - even if mistakes were made - but of ideas. In this refreshing and vitally important book, former governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King - an actor in this drama - proposes revolutionary new concepts to answer the central question: are money and banking a form of Alchemy or are they the Achilles heel of a modern capitalist economy?Trade ReviewI have read umpteen books about the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and its lessons. This is the cleverest one, brimming over with new ideas. While other "lords of finance" publish memoirs, King has produced a brilliant analysis not only of what went wrong in the global financial system, but also of what went wrong in economics itself -- Niall FergusonAn outstandingly lucid account of postwar economic policymaking and the dilemmas we now face. [King] is a master of the well-turned phrase, the apposite quote and the pungent boutade. It is rare to encounter a book on economics quite as intellectually exhilarating as The End of Alchemy - a dazzling performance indeed * Financial Times *Mervyn King may well have written the most important book to come out of the financial crisis. From his extraordinary perspective as a brilliant economist who made policy at the highest level, he issues a clarion call for new ideas and new policies, and then delivers. Agree or disagree, King's arguments deserve the attention of everyone from economics students to heads of state -- Lawrence H. SummersDrawing on years of scholarly study of banking history and his real world experience in fighting financial panic, Mervyn King has set out a new framework for monetary and financial reform. Seemingly simple in concept, it challenges prevailing banking and market practice. The End of Alchemy demands debate and a well-reasoned response -- Paul A. VolckerMervyn King asks, "Why has almost every industrialised country found it difficult to overcome the stagnation that followed the financial crisis in 2007-2008, and why did money and banking, the alchemists of a market economy, turn into its Achilles heel?" He addresses these questions, and much more. For those endeavouring to understand the greatest financial crisis of our time and the future of finance, this highly provocative book is a must read -- Alan GreenspanA sophisticated and highly approachable study of how modern finance has lost its way. Few individuals are more qualified than Lord Mervyn King to imagine the banking of the future. His book should be required reading -- Henry KissingerThe likes of Larry Summers, Paul Krugman, Robert Gordon, John Kay, Richard Koo and Adair Turner all need to read this book because King has something bracing to say about each of their big arguments . . . The depth of King's thinking is impressive, and he makes a powerful case for putting "radical uncertainty" at the heart of any formal attempt to model economies . . . an exceptionally thought-provoking book - and might even become a modern landmark once its many fresh ideas have percolated * Independent *This book is by turns invigorating, terrifying and occasionally even inspiring. Its analysis is stark, its conclusions bold -- Ed Conway * The Times *An exceptionally thought-provoking book and might even become a modern landmark once its many fresh ideas have percolated -- Ben Chu * Independent *Wide ranging, historically informed and elegantly written . . . Like Keynes he is well aware that economics is in the end about people . . . Life is an art, not a science, and this richly rewarding treatise confirms that truth -- David Kynaston * Guardian *A fearless and important book . . . The End of Alchemy isn't just an elegant guide to the history of economic ideas. It also gives a genuine insider's account * Telegraph *This book might just save the world -- Michael Lewis * Bloomberg *Fearlessly honest . . . will be read for decades to come * Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisJohn Lanchester''s Whoops! Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay is the unbelievable true story of the economic crisis. We are, to use a technical economic term, screwed. The cowboy capitalists had a party with everyone''s money and now we''re all paying for it. What went wrong? And will we learn our lesson - or just carry on as before, like celebrating surviving a heart attack with a packet of Rothmans? John Lanchester travels with a cast of characters - including reckless banksters, snoozing regulators, complacent politicians, predatory lenders, credit-drunk spendthrifts, and innocent bystanders to understand deeply and genuinely what is happening and why we feel the way we do. ''Devastatingly funny ... the route map to the crazed world of contemporary finance we have all been waiting for''  Will Self ''Bang on the money''   Independent ''Explains the crisis in a way that actuTrade ReviewThis is what George Bernard Shaw might have called An Intelligent Person's Guide to the Crisis of Modern Capitalism, and everyone ought to read it * Robert Harris, Sunday Times *Original . . . beautifully written . . . both entertaining and profoundly anger-inducing * Chris Blackhurst, Evening Standard *The route map to the crazed world of contemporary finance we have all been waiting for. John Lanchester's superb book is everything its subject - the 2008 crash - was not: namely lucid, beautifully contrived, comprehensible to the reader with no specialist knowledge - and most of all devastatingly funny -- Will SelfWickedly funny . . . Good humor and good company will be the things that'll get us through * Dwight Garner, New York Times *Endlessly witty, but the wit is underpinned by a tremendous, unembarrassed anger and moral lucidity. A superb guide which will turn any reader into an expert within the space of 200 pages. * Jonathan Coe *Explains the madness of modern capitalism with razor-sharp insight, brilliant clarity and a refreshing dose of humour. A great book. * John O'Farrell *Scarier than Thomas Harris * Nicci French *John Lanchester's newfound mission: to explain the world of finance to the general public . . . The result is the perfect read for anyone still wondering what went wrong and why. Unless you'd rather they didn't know * Bloomberg *Literary and profound . . . a master explainer with an excellent grasp of sophisticated finance * Christopher Caldwell, The Daily Beast *Acidic, frightening, and sharply funny . . . a better book about the global meltdown than any other to date * EW.com *[A] sober message lurking among Lanchester's delightful wordplay, and it deserves attention by everyone who cares to understand where we are, how we got here and who is responsible * John Lawrence Reynolds, Globe and Mail *This is a piece of genius . . . It tells a proper story, like a novel, and we're all part of it - which means it is *gripping*. Yes! Gripping! A book about money! I know! But it's true. It is necessary, particularly - but not exclusively - if you're somebody who thinks, 'Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Iceland, um, mortgages, er...' and doesn't want to keep thinking it until the end of time, amoeba-stylee. I humbly posit that it is a masterpiece * India Knight *Lanchester has turned that fascination - coupled with a kind of astonished anger - into a lucid, conversational account of the crisis designed for non-financial types and helpfully leavened with jokes, swearing and interesting asides * Quentin Webb, Reuters *An excellent book for anyone wondering what the hell is going on. Triple A, as the credit rating agencies might say * Irish Times *Or you could simply borrow the book from someone. If they've read it, even better - they won't be expecting you to return it * The Telegraph *For anyone still wondering what the hell those bankers did with our money, try John Lanchester's deliciously escoriating Whoops! Even someone who can't remember their eight times tables comes away feeling wonderfully well informed -- Allison Pearson * summer reading recommendation, Psychologies *This account is by far the most lucid and entertaining explanation of the world banking crisis of 2008 -- Megan Walsh * summer reading recommendation, Times *A lively lay reader's guide to the financial crisis, written by a novelist who sought to educates himself about banking and its failures. Funny and pointed, it exposes the gulf between the two cultures of modern Britain: financial and non-financial -- Ed Crooks * summer reading recommendation, Financial Times *If you want to look like a rock of good sense, a person who is deep and wise and worried, then I suggest Whoops! by John Lanchester ... If only the Queen Mother were still alive, it would make sense even to her -- Colm Toibin * summer reading recommendation, Guardian *

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Book SynopsisBen S. Bernanke’s rise to chair of the Federal Reserve, the massive financial crisis, and the Fed’s bold and effective response.Trade Review"Bernanke details the hurdles he faced, from cynically obstructive congressmen to obstreperous regulators and quarrelsome interest rate hawks, as well as hapless policymaking in Europe. During much of the panic, he writes: “The Fed alone, with its chewing gum and baling wire, bore the burden of battling the crisis.” The guts of his story are familiar. It is well narrated with regular flashes of colour…" -- Financial Times"The former chair has penned a lucid account of the crisis and its aftermath... Mr Bernanke’s narrative of his time in office is a lucid, analytical affair… the book provides a robust defence of the Fed’s response to the crisis. Mr Bernanke clearly sees himself as someone who did what was necessary to save the economy from disaster, in the face of a barrage of unwarranted criticism. The result is a book which compels..." -- The Economist"It was Ben Bernanke, not Gordon Brown, who steered us through the 2008 financial meltdown...the book's most interesting chapters are those that deal with the crisis...Above all, [Bernanke] exuded calm, even when there was plenty of inner turmoil. The calmness comes over in this book, and so does plenty of the turmoil." -- The Sunday Times"It was a happy chance that this scholar, known for his work on the Great Depression, was chairman of the central banking system of the US during the biggest financial crisis since the early 1930s. His [Bernanke's] new book, The Courage to Act, provides a fascinating account of the effort to save the world from another such catastrophe." -- Martin Wolf, Lunch with the FT - Financial Times"'Why', asked the Queen during her visit to the London School of Economics in November 2008, 'did no one see it coming?' The most thorough and persuasive explanation yet comes in a book by one of the key people, arguably the key person, involved, Ben Bernanke, chair of the US Federal Reserve Board." -- The Independent"Bernanke's memoir is a crucial document of record that will be invaluable to future historians. As far as any memoir can be, it is an honest and accurate account. There is no hubris or exaggeration: simply a telling of the tale of the most dramatic period in office of any Fed Chairman to date." -- Mervyn King - Prospect"Bernanke was at the helm of the world's most important central bank during the financial crisis of 2007-08... Here he gives a compelling account of what he and the Federal Reserve did and why they did it... the defence of the Fed against its critics is compelling. " -- Best Books of 2015 - Financial Times"This memoir is a much better read than that of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan: the writing flows easily and the book is much better structured." -- The Irish Times

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Book Synopsis''Robert Peston''s compelling account of global financial meltdown is a must-read.'' ObserverWhat can we learn from the 2008 recession? ITV''s political editor explains the global economic mess and how to escape it - in his characteristically straightforward way. ''How do we fix this mess? I don''t know. But don''t stop reading now. Perhaps if we have a clearer understanding of what went wrong, we''ll have a better idea of what needs to be done. This book is a map of what needs to be fixed.''The record-breaking unbroken growth between 1992 and 2008 wasn''t the economic miracle that it seemed. It was based on a number of dangerous illusions - most notably that it didn''t matter that the UK and US year after year consumed more than they earned.But we couldn''t go on increasing our indebtedness forever. The financial crash of 2007/8 and the subsequent economic slump in much of the west was the moment when we realised we had bTrade ReviewRobert Peston's compelling account of global financial meltdown is a must-read... His discursive, conversational but entrancingly fact-studded trip around the disaster zone ought to be mandatory reading for anyone who wants to have a voice in where we go from here. * Observer *HOW DO WE FIX THIS MESS? is the book of the film and more... brought to life by war stories from the BBC, simple analogies and colourful language... he does know how to elucidate apparently impenetrable issues, and he guides us intelligently and entertainingly... readable and thought-provoking. * Financial Times *Robert Peston is not so much a journalist as a phenomenon... And now he has managed to fit in a book... that displays his gargantuan appetite for facts, numbers and economic and financial history... Peston's range is dazzling.... Peston is a BBC treasure - one of the journalists who justify the licence fee. If, every few years, he needs to breathe out and write a long book, we should encourage it. As they used to say in the pre-Twitter age, he knows his stuff. * New Statesman *'compelling reading'. -- Chris Mullin * The Observer *Reads like a wildly implausible financial thriller. * Independent *Lucid explanations... stark analysis of what the financial meltdown means for us... Peston's book is actually scarier than most descriptions I've read of the crisis. It goes way beyond Wall Street and City greed in its scope. * Evening Standard *He is good on the follies of the bankers... He is also good on the detail. Anybody who wants to know what a collateralised debt obligation or a credit default swap is will find it here. * Sunday Times *Essential reading... an excellent expose of the financial crisis. * Sunday Telegraph *Brilliant. I now understand everything. * Giles Coren *Robert Peston was the voice of the financial crisis, just as Terry Wogan will forever be the voice of the Eurovision Song Contest. Vocal tics and all, he's now an official national treasure. * Spectator *Mr Peston, an award-winning print journalist before he became the Business Editor of the BBC, has many strengths. Chief among these are his sources and a terrier-like determination to get the story. Mr Peston passionately articulates why everyone should be frustrated with the banking sector--and financial globalisation more generally. For a tale of how the British banks blew up, readers will find juicy details. * Economist *Robert Peston's great book on the world financial crash... 400 information-packed pages... If Mr Peston has a lesson for us, it is that until we fix the banking system, we will have achieved nothing. * Irish Independent *'The author charts the past 20 years of steady economic growth and consequent bust, lucidly explaining the shortcomings of the banking system and the effects of globalisation, before returning to the present state of the UK, all invitingly.' * Sunday Telegraph *Praise for WHO RUNS BRITAIN? * . *A compelling portrait of early 21st century casino capitalism...essential reading. * Howard Davies The Times *This lucid and timely guide to the world of turbo-capitalism...absorbing book, essential reading for anyone who wants to know how the British economy now operates. * Peter Wilby, Guardian *A devastating account of Blair's producer capture by high finance...Peston navigates with ease the shark-infested waters of hedge funds, sub-prime borrowing, defined-benefit pensions and loans for honours. * Simon Jenkins, The Sunday Times *Fluent, incredibly up to the minute look at Britain...Peston, in relaxed, conversational; style is a great travelling companion along the highways of finance. * Observer *starkly lucid...Reading Peston's book, you can only be flabbergasted all over again at how Labour kowtowed to wealth, glorified the City and put the nations economic eggs into one dangerous basket of fizzy finance. * Polly Toynbee Guardian *'Peston catches the zeitgeist of Britain and the paradox that is Gordon Brown' * Financial Times *'engaging' * Harry Mount Telegraph *Robert Peston is very lucid on some of the biggest issues of the day. I thoroughly recommend it. * Scotland on Sunday *We are unfortunately still in the middle of this crisis. But at least we will have Robert Peston to give us that famous 'first draft of history' provided by excellent reporting. * Business Economist *One of the best accounts of the financial crisis, recession and how we get out of it. * Scotland on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisWar in Ukraine, a global hunger crisis, the West''s cost of living crisis - the eruptions of 2022 were all too predictable. In Price Wars, Rupert Russell lays out just how these crises are connected and how many such events plunged the 2010s into a decade of turmoil. Entering the eye of the storm - from the trenches of Russian separatist-controlled Donbas to bomb disposal squads in Mosul to cattle raiders in Kenya - Russell discovers a butterfly effect of chaos in the real world being driven by chaos in the commodities markets. The price of food and oil has the power to bankroll foreign invasions, plunge continents into poverty and spark revolutions, civil wars and refugee crises. And these prices, whistle-blowing hedge fund managers and Nobel Prize winners told him, have become irrational. In this thrilling exposé of the dark financial forces that rule our world, Russell takes us on adventure into the inner workings of global disorder unlike any other.Trade ReviewCombining investigative courage with forensic analysis, Price Wars is a geopolitical masterpiece bursting with bite, originality and compassion -- DAVID LAMMY MPIf you're desperately searching for a single reason why Brexit, Trump or the war in Ukraine have caused such chaos, then sociologist and documentarian Rupert Russell might have the answer. [He] is a really engaging guide * OBSERVER *Provocative . . . Price Wars arrives at quite an appropriate moment, culturally speaking, with many people emerging from the depths of the pandemic wondering whether what was long billed as a core strength of globalisation, its flexibility, had been revealed through supply-chain shocks and other disruptions to be a bit of a broken promise or even an excuse for market fragility -- DAVID WALLACE-WELLS * NEW YORK TIMES *Price Wars is a totally original and stimulating read, part war zone reportage, part economic history and buzzing with ideas about the way markets work that will change your understanding of the world we live in -- LIAQUAT AHAMED, author of LORDS OF FINANCERupert Russell guilefully searches for chaos and finds the butterfly effect of volatile prices operating everywhere. His stories are vivid and analysis airtight. In his hands, prices become quantum: we can know its present value or trend, but not both. Is our civilisation slowly boiling, or can we simplify our hyper-complexity and tame the chaos we have unleashed through integrated financial markets? This fine book provides compelling answers -- DR PARAG KHANNA, author of CONNECTOGRAPHY and MOVERupert Russell's adventures into a host of modern apocalypses are retold in this thrilling page-turner. The result is an incredible synthesis that places global finance at the heart of chaos across the world -- POLLY TOYNBEEAn illuminating, sobering and endlessly fascinating look at the root causes and hidden connections between financial markets and some of the developing world's most wrenching crises. Fearlessly reported from conflict zones from separatist Ukrainian provinces to the Middle East, Russell compellingly draws a line between commodity manipulation on Wall Street and the chaos that fuels extremism and violence -- JOBY WARRICK, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of BLACK FLAGSA skilfully conducted tour of the role of price, once unmoored from reality, in adding chaos to an already chaotic world. A fresh look at some of the mostly deeply held dogmas of economics, exploding many along the way -- KIRKUSWry, objective, scary, funny: let's hope it's not all true, but that seems unlikely -- GRIFF RHYS JONESDeeply reported and thoroughly accessible, this investigation into the far-reaching consequences of economic speculation deserves a wide readership * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review) *Price Wars is a thorough and compelling account of political instability generated by the hyper-financialization of commodities. It could not be more timely -- Zach D. Carter, author of THE PRICE OF PEACE: MONEY, DEMOCRACY, AND THE LIFE OF JOHN MAYNARD KEYNESOne of the most important books of our time * THE INTERCEPT *Rupert Russell's new book shows how the financialization of commodity prices worsens volatility and destabilizes geopolitics. It couldn't be more timely * AMERICAN PROSPECT *Price Wars reveals that hedge fund managers and commodities traders based in the financial hubs of New York and London have manipulated the prices of essentials to maintain their profits . . . Russell argues that this practice has had a butterfly effect in contributing to human suffering and exacerbating social and political unrest in countries around the world * ATTITUDE MAGAZINE *

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Book SynopsisYou Spend It. You Save It. You Never Have Enough of It. But how does money actually work?Understanding cash, currencies and the financial system is vital for making sense of what is going on in our world, especially now. Since the 2008 financial crisis, money has rarely been out of the headlines. Central banks have launched extraordinary policies, like quantitative easing or negative interest rates. New means of payment, like Bitcoin and Apple Pay, are changing how we interact with money and how governments and corporations keep track of our spending. Radical politicians in the US and UK are urging us to transform our financial system and make it the servant of social justice. And yet, if you stopped for a moment and asked yourself whether you really understand how it works, would you honestly be able to say 'yes'?In Money in One Lesson, Gavin Jackson, a lead writer for the Financial Times, specialising in economics, business and public policy, answers the most important questions to clarify for the reader what money is and how it shapes our societies. With brilliant storytelling, Jackson provides a basic understanding of the most important element of our everyday lives. Drawing on stories like the 1970s Irish Banking Strike to show what money actually is, and the Great Inflation of West Africa's cowrie shell money to explain how it keeps its value, Money in One Lesson demystifies the world of finance and explains how societies, both past and present, are forever entwined with monetary matters.

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Book Synopsis'Cristina Alger's debut novel offers a fresh and modern glimpse into New York's high society. I was hooked from page one' Lauren Weisberger, author of The Devil Wears PradaFrom the author of The Banker's Wife and Girls Like Us comes an explosive drama about family, greed and high society scandal.The Darlings of New York are untouchable. But no one is safe from a scandal this big.When Carter Darling's business partner commits suicide, it triggers a huge financial investigation. The allegations are serious. The danger of it exposing their private lives is equally threatening. In times of crisis, the Darlings have always stuck together. But with the stakes so high, how long will their loyalty last?Praise for The Darlings:'Forget Gossip Girl: If you really want a peek into the scandalous lives of New York City's elite upper class, Alger's debut novel . . . gets you pretty close' Entertainment Weekly'A suspenseful, twisty story' Wall Street Journal'Penned by a former banker, this is a dishy yet thoughtful portrait of greed gone too far . . . A page-turner' Good HousekeepingTrade ReviewTwo parts Too Big to Fail, one part The Devil Wears Prada, Alger's debut is taut and compelling. * Publishers Weekly *Fits somewhere between the novels of Dominick Dunne . . . and Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities * Library Journal *For those who have only gazed up at the palatial residences of Manhattan, this is a glimpse from the penthouse down -- Tom Rachman, New York Times bestselling authorCristina Alger is so good, you just know she's an inside trader - as intimately familiar with the inner workings of Wall Street investment banks as she is with haute Manhattan social life. She's also a gifted storyteller. The Darlings is an utterly compelling novel, as knowing about family as it is about money and social status -- Jay McInerney, New York Times bestselling author

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Book SynopsisThe deterioration of employment conditions for an increasing number of employees in late capitalism has prompted researchers to find ways to conceptualise, as well as measure, these observed new tendencies. This book examines precarious employment in Europe through the economic crisis, drawing on two main sources: theories of how the financial and debt crisis coupled with labour market reforms to exacerbate precarity in the workforce; and data from the European Labour Force Survey from 2005-12, capturing various aspects of precarious employment. It also includes a detailed discussion of policy developments in a series of EU countries, with the aim of demonstrating how precarity has been directly linked with certain labour market reforms implemented both before and after the crisis. The authors conclude that the crisis and the labour market reforms represent significant pillars of the strategy used by states and employers to respond to the crisis, as well as promote their competitiveness agenda. The reduction of labour costs and the promotion of higher flexibility are the ultimate goals of that strategy, but the side-effects include an inability to provide high quality jobs to a growing number of people, especially young people. The authors also capture the extent of precarious employment, providing comparable evidence across EU countries.Table of ContentsForewordIntroduction Chapter One: Theory, Concepts and EU Context Chapter Two: Definitions, Measurements and EU Empirical Analysis Discussion

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Book SynopsisA sweeping history of Athens, telling the three-thousand-year story of the birthplace of Western civilization, from Runciman Award winner Bruce Clark 'A stunning retrospect and beautifully written overview of one of the world's greatest cities' Paul Cartledge 'Courageously grand in scale yet sensitive to the details that make Athens' extraordinary history come alive' Sofka Zinovieff 'Bruce Clark brings an eye for the quirky, human detail, a pithy turn of phrase, and an affection for his subject honed over many decades' Roderick Beaton 'Bruce Clark's enchantingly readable history revealed how little I knew' Literary Review Dominated by the pillars and pediments of the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom, the ancient Greek city of Athens is for many synonymous with civilization itself. Athens: City of Wisdom tells the tale of a city that occupies a unique place in the cultural memory of the West. Each of the book's twenty-one chapters focuses on a critical 'moment' in the city's long history, from the reforms of the lawmaker Solon in the sixth century BCE to the travails of early twenty-first-century Athens, as a rapidly expanding city struggles with the legacy of a global economic crisis. Bruce Clark has a rich and revealing sequence of stories to tell – not only of the familiar golden age of Classical Athens, of the removal from the Acropolis of the Parthenon marbles by agents of the 7th Earl of Elgin in the early nineteenth century, or of the holding of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896; but also of the less fêted later years of antiquity, when St Paul preached on the Areopagus and neo Platonists refounded the Academy that Sulla's legions had desecrated. He also delves into Athens' forgotten medieval centuries, unearthing jewels gleaming in the Byzantine twilight, and tales of Christian fortitude and erratic Turkish governance from the four centuries of Ottoman rule that followed. Few places have enjoyed a history so rich in artistic creativity and the making of ideas as Athens; or one so curiously patterned by alternating cycles of turbulence and quietness. Writing with scholarly rigour and undisguised affection, Bruce Clark brings three thousand years of Athenian history vividly to life.Trade ReviewFrom Pheidias' Parthenon to Calatrava's Olympic Stadium, Bruce Clark has pulled off a stunning retrospect and beautifully written overview of one of the world's greatest cities. Athenophiles of all ages and stripes will find in Athens a cornucopia of city-related treasures -- Paul CartledgeA magnificent tour de force, drawing on the testimony of eye-witnesses across a span of 2,500 years. Bruce Clark brings an eye for the quirky, human detail, a pithy turn of phrase, and an affection for his subject honed over many decades -- Roderick BeatonA remarkable achievement. Courageously grand in scale yet sensitive to the details that make Athens's extraordinary history come alive, right up to the present day -- Sofka ZinovieffBruce Clark's enchantingly readable history revealed how little I knew and, perhaps more importantly, how little I knew of the ways it all fits together * Literary Review *A classic journalistic and academic analysis of the ancient and the modern * Irish News *An exhaustive yet compelling history of the Greek capital... Unmissable and highly informative * Financial Times *A triumph of a book that should be read by those who already know this city's importance and charm and those who want to. It is an extraordinary achievement * Economist *A comfortable, entertaining read which glides seamlessly from one chapter to the next * Kathimerini *

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Book SynopsisConstantly bandied about, 'crisis' has tended to be a much-overused word. Understanding the economy and its future challenges requires a detailed and precise analysis of what an economic crisis is. This book sets out to do just that. It first provides a deep historical context of what economic theory says about crises and their perpetual return in the form of a cycle. It then looks at what lessons might be learned from such cycles. Since 1945, the world economy has been dominated by the United States, so an analysis of recent crises must necessarily consider public policy response in this country. Decoding Economic Crises attempts to answer the question of whether American leadership has emerged unscathed from the damage inflicted by the 1975, 1992, 2009 and 2020 recessions and their legacies of debt.Looking forward to the future, there is a particular focus on environmental change. The book interrogates whether devastating crises might ensue, reminiscent of the 'nutritional trap' theorised by Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton. Finally, Decoding Economic Crises asks if there will be a return to times of extreme scarcity as seen prior to the mid-18th century.

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Book SynopsisWe are living through a cost of living crisis, with interest rate hikes and the prices of everyday consumables and energy bills sky-rocketing. Why is this happening? Sometimes we are told that wages are too high, or that the government has "printed" too much money or that events far away, such as the war in Ukraine, are solely to blame. The plain argument that high prices go together with high profits, falling wages, and weak production is often distorted and hidden by mainstream commentary in the media and elsewhere. This plain-speaking pamphlet tells it straight: the big businesses dominating production and distribution make huge profits out of high inflation, while working people lose out. It sets out factual evidence to illustrate that the source of record profits is the fall in real wages as inflation rises. A large part of the income of working people is being transferred directly into the profits of big business. The pamphlet shows that the deeper roots of the "cost of living crisis" lie in the very low investment and poor productivity growth for many years. The basic steps to resolving the crisis are simple: prices, especially of essentials, must be brought down, and wages, salaries, benefits, and pensions must be increased.Trade Review[An] excellent little book -- Will Podmore * The Morning Star *A small book with a mighty big punch ... Closely argued in clear, accessible language, [The Cost of Living Crisis] demolishes the decades-old lie that wage rises are the source of inflation, and backs that case with hard facts. * Scottish Socialist Voice *

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