The System Worked: How the World Stopped Another Great Depression
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International institutions, from the International Monetary Fund to the International Olympic Committee, are perceived as bastions of sclerotic mediocrity at best and outright corruption at worst, and this perception is generally not far off the mark. In the wake of the 2008 financial crash, Daniel W. Drezner, like so many others, looked at the smoking ruins of the global
The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire
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Explores the work of the world's most powerful central bankers-- --Ben Bernanke of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Mervyn King of the Bank of England, and Jean-Claude Trichet of the European Central Bank--offering a view from the cockpit of the global economy as the three men struggled to keep it from going down.
The Price of Civilization: Economics and Ethics After the Fall
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We have less time for the needed global transformation than many had hoped or expected. Resource scarcity is already upon us in the form of soaring oil and food prices and a cascade of climate shocks
Offers a diagnosis of the country's economic ills and argues that Americans can restore the virtues of fairness, honesty, and foresight as the foundations of national prosperity
Includes bibliographical references and index
Part I: The great crash. Diagnosing America's economic crisis -- Prosperity lost -- The free-market fallacy -- Washington's retreat from public purpose -- The divided nation -- The new globalization -- The rigged game -- The distracted society -- Part II: The path to prosperity. The mindful society -- Prosperity regained -- Paying for civilization -- The seven habits of highly effective government -- The millennial renewal
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
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Senator Obama calls for a different brand of politics--a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the "endless clash of armies" we see in Congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of our democracy. He explores those forces--from the fear of losing, to the perpetual need to raise money, to the power of the media--that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the racial and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational threats--from terrorism to pandemic--that gather beyond our shores. And he grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy. Only by returning to the principles that gave birth to our Constitution, he says, can Americans repair a broken political process, and restore to working order a government dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary Americans.--From publisher description.
Objective Troy: A Terrorist, A President, and the Rise of the Drone
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A dramatic account of the cat-and-mouse game between the Obama administration and most-wanted terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki traces the President's shifting campaigns and the evolution of the robotic technology that ended Awlaki's life.
Getting Religion: Faith, Culture, and Politics, From the Age of Eisenhower to the Era of Obama
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"Blends memoir (especially of the postwar era) with ... reporting and ... historical analysis to tell the story of how American religion, culture, and politics influenced each other in the second half of the twentieth century"--Dust jacket flap.For readers looking to understand how religion came to be a contentious element in 21st century public life. The author blends memoir (especially of the postwar era) with copious reporting and shrewd historical analysis to tell the story of how American religion, culture and politics influenced each other in the second half of the 20th century. A scholar as well as one of the nation's most respected journalists, Woodward served as Newsweek's religion editor for nearly forty years, reporting on a wide range of social issues, ideas and movements. Beginning with a bold reassessment of the Fifties, Woodward's narrative weaves through Civil Rights era and the movements that followed in its wake: the anti-Vietnam movement; Liberation theology in Latin America; the rise of Evangelicalism and decline of mainline Protestantism; feminism's impact on the Bible; the turn to Asian spirituality; the transformation of the family and emergence of religious cults; and the embrace of righteous politics by both the Republican and Democratic Parties. Along the way, Woodward provides portraits of many of the era's major figures: preachers like Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell; politicians Mario Cuomo and Hillary Clinton; movement leaders Daniel Berrigan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Richard John Neuhaus; influential thinkers ranging from Erik Erikson to Elizabeth Kübler-Ross; feminist theologians Rosemary Reuther and Elizabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza; leaders like Dr. Sun Myung Moon and est impresario Werner Erhardt; plus the author's longtime friend, the Dalai Lama. Woodward also introduces a fresh vocabulary of terms such as "embedded religion," "movement religion" and "entrepreneurial religion" to illuminate the interweaving of the secular and sacred in American public life.--Adapted from dust jacket.
Financial Crisis in America
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There is no precise definition of “financial crisis,” but a common view is that disruptions in financial markets rise to the level of a crisis when the flow of credit to households and businesses is constrained and the real economy of goods and services is adversely affected. Since mid-2007, central bankers — including the Federal Reserve — have labored to keep the downturn in U.S. subprime housing from developing into such a crisis. While subprime problems were widely anticipated, the subsequent spread of turmoil into many seemingly unrelated parts of the global financial system was not. Many losses occurring in diverse firms and markets — often quite severe — have features in common: the use of complex, hard-to-value financial instruments; large speculative positions underwritten by borrowed funds, or leverage; and the use of off-the-books entities to remove risky trading activities from the balance sheets of major financial institutions. It is not yet clear whether financial market problems will significantly slow the economy: many believe that the current episode is simply the downside of a normal credit cycle, that is, a natural corrective to several years of unusually easy credit conditions. On the other hand, some analysts identify market dynamics that may amplify the effects of financial shocks and have the potential to generate self-reinforcing, downward financial and economic spirals. The Federal Reserve has used its traditional tools to avert such an outcome: it has lowered short-term interest rates dramatically and injected billions of dollars into the banking system to support market liquidity and keep credit flowing. In addition, the Fed has expanded its sphere by making funds available to securities firms, which it does not regulate, and has provided funding to underwrite the rescue-through-acquisition of Bear Stearns, a leading investment bank. The duration of the current instability is in marked contrast to financial shocks of recent decades — stock market crashes, bond market disruptions, the 9/11 attacks — when the central bank was able to contain market problems quickly with little or no interruption of U.S. economic growth. Depending on how soon normal market conditions are restored, and at what cost, policy makers may consider whether regulators have access to adequate information about market conditions, and whether currently unregulated market participants should be subjected to disclosure and reporting requirements. In addition, the social costs of failed financial speculation may be judged great enough to warrant new restrictions designed to lower the incidence of losses that have system-wide impacts or to put the markets and the economy in a better position to weather such shocks.
Crash of the Titans: Greed, Hubris, the Fall of Merrill Lynch, and the Near-Collapse of Bank of America
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Wall Street has always been an insular culture that most people only vaguely understand. The exception was Merrill Lynch, a firm that revolutionized the stock market by bringing Wall Street to Main Street. Merrill Lynch was not only "bullish on America," it was a big reason why so many average Americans were able to grow wealthy in the stock market. Merrill Lynch was an icon. Its sudden collapse and sale to Bank of America was a shock. How and why did it happen? And what does this story of greed, hubris, and incompetence tell us about the culture of Wall Street that continues to this day even though it came close to destroying the American economy? This is a Shakespearean saga of three flawed masters, E. Stanley O'Neal, John Thain, and Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, who made a $50 billion commitment over a September weekend to buy a business he really didn't understand.--From publisher description
Beating the Bear
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What actually caused the economic crisis in the United States in 1929? Why did a similar disaster occur again in 2008-2009? Today's news sources are filled with misinformation about what is happening in America's financial world and why--perpetrating myths and putting people's hard-earned funds at risk. Twice in the last century, the usually stalwart economy of the United States has crumbled--first in 1929, when the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression hit, and again with the financial market meltdown of 2008-2009 that is still crippling much of America. While it is still too soon to state unequivocally how this latest economic disaster came about, it is possible to theorize that much of what has happened could have been foreseen and even avoided--just as it could have been in 1929. This book accurately describes the economic situations in the United States before the 1929 and 2008-2009 stock market crashes, and carefully examines the causes of both financial crises. This comprehensive assessment of both time periods allows readers to better grasp the present market situation, understand the connection between the explosion of the subprime mortgage market and the current state of the economy, and more wisely forecast the future.
Ten Years After the Crash: Financial Crises and Regulatory Responses
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"The 2008 financial crash was the worst financial crisis and the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. It triggered a complete overhaul of the global regulatory environment, ushering in a stream of new rules and laws to combat the perceived weakness of the financial system. While the global economy came back from the brink, the continuing effects of the crisis include increasing economic inequality and political polarization. Ten Years After the Crash is an innovative analysis of the crisis and its ongoing influence on the global regulatory, financial, and political landscape, with timely discussions of the key issues for our economic future. It brings together a range of expert and practitioner perspectives, including the Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, the former congressman Barney Frank, the former treasury secretary Jacob Lew, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England Paul Tucker, and Steve Cutler, general counsel of JP Morgan Chase during the financial crisis. Each poses crucial questions: What were the origins of the crisis? How effective were international and domestic regulatory responses? Have we addressed the roots of the crisis through reform and regulation? Are our financial systems and the global economy better able to withstand another crash? Ten Years After the Crash is vital reading as both a retrospective on the last crisis and analysis of possible sources of the next one"-- Provided by publisher.
First Responders: Inside the U.S. Strategy for Fighting the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis
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Faced with the prospect of a new Great Depression in 2008 when the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off a global panic, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and other agencies took extraordinary measures to contain the damage and steady the financial system and the economy. Edited by three of the policymakers who led the government's response to the crisis, with chapters written by the teams tasked with finding policy solutions, this book provides a comprehensive accounting of the internal debates and controversies surrounding the measures that were taken to stabilize the economy.
