Fixing Global Finance (Forum on Constructive Capitalism) - Hardcover

Wolf, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801890489 ISBN 13: 9780801890482

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008

Synopsis

2009 Financial Book of the Year, China Business News

The latest book from Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf explains why global imbalances cause financial crises―including the one ravaging the United States right now―and outlines the steps for ending this destructive cycle.

Reviewing global financial crises since 1980, Wolf lays bare the links between the microeconomics of finance and the macroeconomics of the balance of payments, demonstrating how the subprime lending crisis in the United States fits into a pattern that includes the economic shocks of 1997, 1998, and early 1999 in Latin America, Russia, and Asia. He explains why the United States is now the "borrower and spender of last resort," makes the case that this is an untenable arrangement, and argues that global economic security depends on the ability of emerging economies to develop robust financial systems based on domestic currencies.

Sharply and clearly argued, Wolf’s prescription for fixing global finance illustrates why he has been described as "the world's preeminent financial journalist."

About this title

About the Author:

Martin Wolf is the associate editor and chief economics commentator for Financial Times and a professor of economics at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of several books, most recently Why Globalization Works, and was named to Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines' "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" list.

Review:

"Heavy but rewarding, Wolf's analysis fills in a lot of blanks for those seeking to understand the new U.S. recession in a global context."

(Publishers Weekly)

"This is an ambitious book by one of the most respected financial journalists of our time... He does a terrific job, taking us through the plethora of theories that were put out to explain the imbalances, debunking the more popular but flaky ones with gusto."

(Financial Times)

"Wolf is adamant: global trade and global finance ride in harness, and global finance requires controls ―controls that cover all nations. Agree or not, get the book and expand your understanding of precisely what has brought the United States to its current flirtation with disaster."

(Arthur Jones The Desk)

"In the diligent Fixing Global Finance, the Financial Times editor and columnist takes on the imbalances that have made the world economy lopsided."

(Andrew Bast Newsweek)

"An extremely helpful guide to the origins of today's problems and to possible solutions... Written before the crisis, it is unhindered by minutiae about the crescendo of ad hoc measures that several governments took throughout the fall."

(Harold James Foreign Affairs)

"If Mr. Wolf were to rewrite his book... he would no doubt shift his emphasis. But his first run at the subject... holds up remarkably well despite all that has happened."

(Economist)

"The only inkling of hope is that policy makers everywhere have been so shaken by events that they will heed what Wolf advises. This book is a great and important contribution to everyone's welfare on the globe. It can be paid no higher accolade."

(Will Hutton Guardian)

"The coverage of history alone is worth the price of the book... also a worthwhile read because of the story Wolf weaves to explain the development of the imbalances in world markets that resulted in the current financial and economic crisis."

(John M. Mason Seeking Alpha)

"Give the world's current economic crisis, Wolf's book is timely."

(Choice)

"Fixing Global Finance marks a turning point in his worldview... offers important pointers to the way ahead."

(Robert Skidelsky New York Review of Books)

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0801890489
• ISBN 13: 9780801890482
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 248