Harvey David. The Enigma of Capital and the crises of Capitalism

Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc., 1999. The author originally decided to write this book because of his dissatisfaction with the typical textbooks in international economics, macroeconomics, and the related subjects that he teaches. These textbooks do not present the major structural changes and recent events in the global economy to his satisfaction; insufficient attention is typically given to financial market globalization, new trade patterns,...

FT Press, 2010. - 256 Pages. Are we barreling toward another massive global financial catastrophe? How can so many bubbles form all at once? Why are so many disconnected markets now capable of collapsing in unison? In this remarkably readable book, award-winning Financial Times columnist John Authers takes on these critical questions and offers deeply sobering answers. Authers reveals how the first truly global super bubble was inflated–and mi...

University of California Press, 1978. - 282 pages. The book begins with an overview of the British gold standard and its gradual breakdown during the interwar period. This sets the stage for the main subject: the history of the monetary order underlying the multilateral free-trade system promoted and managed by the United States. The analysis rests on a distinction between a closed economy, where trade imbalances can be corrected by the imposit...

International Monetary Fund, 2010. - 224 pages. The Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) assesses key risks facing the global financial system with a view to identifying those that represent systemic vulnerabilities. In normal times, the report seeks to play a role in preventing crises by highlighting policies that may mitigate systemic risks, thereby contributing to global financial stability and the sustained economic growth of the IMF’s...

Bеrrett-Koеhler Рublishers, 2009. - 196 pages. Today's economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. However, as David Korten shows, the steps being taken to address it do nothing to deal with the reality of a failed economic system. It's like treating cancer with a bandage. Korten identifies the deeper sources of the failure: Wall Street institutions that have perfected the art of creating "wealth" without producing anything of real...

Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. - 208 pages. This book explores the contribution of corporate CEOs and their top lieutenants toward business success and failure. By looking at the three most recent economic crises, the S&L crisis, the dot-com bubble, and the recent subprime mortgage disaster, the author explains why and how corporate managers led their organizations toward disasters in the long-run, and explains the recent destructive collaborati...

W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. - 361 pages. An incisive look at the global economic crisis, our flawed response, and the implications for the world’s future prosperity. The Great Recession, as it has come to be called, has impacted more people worldwide than any crisis since the Great Depression. Flawed government policy and unscrupulous personal and corporate behavior in the United States created the current financial meltdown, which was exp...

United Nations, 2009. - 100 Pages. Contents. Acronyms. Overview. A crisis across the regions. All regions have suffered declines in growth. Despite banking sector rescue plans, risks remain. Falling equity prices. Capital flows have been drying up. Sharp falls in commodity prices. Contracting global trade. Rising protectionism. Rising unemployment, increasing poverty. Expansionary monetary and banking policies. Combating recession w...

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 2008. - 27 pages. High food prices from 2007 through mid-2008 had serious implications for food and nutrition security, macroeconomic stability,and political security. The unfolding global financial crisis and economic slowdown have now pushed food prices to lower levels. Yet the financial crunch has also decreased the availability of capital at a time when accelerated investment in agricult...

FT Press, 2008. - 288 Pages. If it’s growing like a weed, it’s probably a weed. So I was once told by the CEO of a major financial institution. He was talking about the credit card business in the mid-1990s, a time when lenders were mailing out new cards with abandon and cardholders were piling up huge debts. He was worried, and correctly so. Debt-swollen households were soon filing for bankruptcy at a record rate, contributing to the financial...