Issues In Finance - Credit, Crises And Policies

Recent years for economics and economists have been interesting times. Macroeconomics, and its interplay with finance and credit, had actually come to be seen as boring in some quarters following so many years of relative stability. Today, of course, macronomics is no longer perceived as antiquated and dull. Yet through the years leading up to the recent financial crisis, the `cognoscenti' had never grown complacent. Many economists continued to toil away at key issues surrounding the relationship between credit, finance, and the macroeconomy. The surveys collected in this book reflect many important aspects of these efforts.

Topics covered include the Basel Accords, sovereign insolvency procedures, collateral and credit, links between stock and house prices and consumer spending, and price-level targeting. This thought-provoking collection also reveals how much of mainstream economics literature was, in fact, well aware of the potential problems of the financial framework that would soon result in a global economic meltdown.

Timely and relevant, Issues in Finance sheds important light on the recent financial crisis and offers keen insights for reflection and future policy considerations.

Stuart Sayer is Professor of Economics Education, University of Edinburgh, Executive Director of the Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE), and Editor of the Journal of Economic Surveys. His research is in macroeconomic and monetary theory and policy, political economy, economic policy-making, and climate change economics.