International Debt: Economic, Financial, Monetary, Political And Regulatory Aspects (palgrave Macmillan Studies In Banking And Financial Institutions)

Written by a group of international experts, this book focuses on three interdependent themes: (a) origins and consequences of the current debt crisis; (b) the systemic nature of the crisis; (c) national and international policy efforts to avoid a global collapse and bring about lasting reforms in the Euro zone and in the financial system. This book provides an up-to-date analysis of the international debt issue, and offers suggestions for the way out of the current profound crisis. It addresses: @* The key aspects and principal consequences of the current debt crisis, with specific country and regional examples including Greece, the Eurozone, and the United States, and the impact on the growth potential of the OECD area, @* The systemic nature of the current crisis, with special emphasis on the shortcomings of the international monetary system and on the financial, banking and fiscal dimensions, @* The national and international policy efforts aimed at avoiding a global collapse, and the role and responsibility of private actors @* Important issues, such as, the limits of monetary sovereignty, the case for bankruptcy procedure for sovereign states and global financial governance, and finally, @* The need, in addition to the necessary bolstering of the Eurozone, for a long-overdue reform of the international monetary system, with the United States, the European Union and Japan having to take the initiative. This book was written by an international group of outstanding academic and policy experts, several of whom have acted as senior advisers in the Basel process of the reform of the international banking rules in the wake of the 'subprime crisis' and in the Greek debt-restructuring "This book provides an up-to-date, in-depth analysis of the nature of the international debt issue, the current situation, and of the way out of the current profound crisis. Written by an international group of outstanding academic and policy experts, several of whom have provided information and advice to policy makers, for example, in the Basel process of reform in international banking rules re-launched in the wake of the "subprime crisis" and in the Greek debt-restructuring, one of the largest such operations ever undertaken. The current debt crisis is the result and the latest manifestation of the distortions, excesses and recurring crises of the international monetary and financial system that had marked the four decades since the early 1970s. Ultimately, the crisis that broke out into the open, on an unprecedented scale in September 2008 with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, threatened the very foundations of global finance and of the open liberal international economic order. The present volume is a follow-up to an earlier book on Globalization and the Reform of the International Banking and Monetary System (Otto Hieronymi, Editor, published by Palgrave Macmillan in October 2009). One of the principal conclusions of the 2009 book was that overcoming the 2008 crises and its consequences and preventing future systemic crises, including a possible financial meltdown, will be a long-term process that will require both political consensus and national and international solidarity especially among the OECD countries. The book addresses the close links between sovereign debt, corporate debt, household debt and the shortcomings of the national and international monetary and financial system, through analysis of the current crisis as the first serious challenge for the survival of the Euro Area."--Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-10 The International Monetary System and the Debt Issue....Pages 11-94 The Dual Debt Problem in the US and in Europe: Are Policy Makers Addressing the Right Issues?....Pages 95-108 The Illusion of Monetary Sovereignty....Pages 109-126 Building Firewalls: European Responses to the Sovereign Debt Crisis....Pages 127-158 The Case for a Sovereigns’ Bankruptcy Procedure....Pages 159-163 The Impact of the Current Euro Zone Fiscal Crisis on the Greek Banking Sector and the Measures Adopted to Preserve its Stability....Pages 164-188 Options, Decisions and Implementation under Extreme Market Conditions: Economic Policy in Greece the Day After....Pages 189-210 Quo Vadis Global Financial Governance?....Pages 211-225 International Debt and Globalization....Pages 226-237 Conclusions and Outlook....Pages 238-239 Back Matter....Pages 240-275