[ FIXING GLOBAL FINANCE (EXPANDED, UPDATED) (FORUM ON CONSTRUCTIVE CAPITALISM) ] By Wolf, Martin ( Author) 2010 [ Paperback ]

by Martin Wolf

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."

Genres: Economics, Finance, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published September 23, 2008

About the author

Martin Wolf is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, London. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2000 for services to financial journalism. Wolf won the Overseas Press Club of America’s prize for Best Commentary in 2013 and the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gerald Loeb Awards. He was a member of the UK’s Independent Commission on Banking in 2010-11. Wolf is the author of The Shifts and The Shocks: What We’ve Learned— and Have Still to Learn—from the Financial Crisis.

Reviews

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Martin Wolf is known to be "one of the" globalist..promoting free trade and all..this book seems to use a lot of technical terms and numbers, and data especially to prove the unbalance of the world economies..but looking closely..when the title has an intention to fix global finance, it simply does not..Martin tends to shift a lot of focus on the developing nations such as China as one of the culprits that affect the world balance..but I thought he was the one asks for globalization in the first place just like Stiglitz...these are the people so called experts who promotes something without Plan B, so when SHTF, they are also the one came out to provide solutions..a very similar pattern with Thomas Friedman. Truth is that there is no fix when one promotes drastic market opening and with each countries public and economic policies are so different: intricate balance must be conducted without "hey I have solutions for you all"....

[Noah Candelario · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the Shifts and Shocks from Martin Wolf, which was much more complicated, I wish I read this instead as more of an introduction. I have to say that this book is not for the faint of heart and it was difficult for me to understand, but I can tell that the information here was really important. The arguments presented were well thought out and creative, some of which were already explained in his other books (Consistent Argument). Highly recommend to those who want to understand trade and crises more.

[Juraj Spilda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bit of a slog. It felt repetitive and dragged out unnecessarily into a book when it could have been condensed into a Financial Times long read article.

Or perhaps I'm just not well suited for reading macroeconomics literature.

[Rúben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Wolf proposes the development of national financial systems (long-term finance denominated in domestic currency) as a solution for global macroeconomic imbalances. This solution seems to make sense, especially for large emerging markets (small economies do not matter for global imbalances, anyway).
The essence of finance is explained very simply and nicely. His writing style is ok, often clear, but not always. He uses a lot of statistical evidence, but sometimes he repeats the same argument over and over again.
When I got the book (2nd edition, published in 2009 and 2010), I thought it was much more focused on the recent events (global financial crisis). Wolf must have tortured himself a few months after the first edition was published. In this 2nd edition he includes a final chapter on the crisis, which complements all his arguments. This actually makes it an interesting read.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fine fixes for global financial markets

Questions about current account deficits and international savings rates send many fiscal analysts into jingoistic declamations. But Martin Wolf isn’t that kind of economic commentator. He’s the sort who realizes that global financial markets are fiendishly complex and, thus, that easy answers are likely to be too easy. In this study, Wolf adds depth and texture to such hot topics as China’s massive savings rate and its huge foreign-currency holdings. This is primarily an economist’s analysis, so Wolf doesn’t address the way financial markets affect everyday consumers and entrepreneurs. getAbstract recommends his book to observers who seek a learned, lucid, forward-looking perspective on global financial markets.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

America's absurdly low savings rate, rampant, credit-based consumerism (especially for cheap imports), as well as foreign currency distortions, are all contributing to the meltdown of the world's financial system.
At least now I know what the problem is.
A great book written by one of the Financial Times' best economics writers, Martin Wolf. Wolf also writes an economic blog on the homepage of the Financial Times: www.ft.com Check it out. Also check out my favorite FT columnist, John Authers, on his video blog, "The Short View", at ft.com as well.

[Indradeep Ghosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book appears to be targeted at undergraduate majors in economics, and (possibly) first year grad students, but at any rate, not at someone who has no prior knowledge of macroeconomics. The language is quite technical, there are lots of figures and graphs, and Wolf does a good job of bringing the reader up to speed with some of the latest (right up to 2007) academic research on the various aspects of the crisis.

[Alex Hui · Rating 5 out of 5]

作者由新興市場經濟體和美國之間的互動中切入，解構國際的根本問題和解決方法。新興經濟體大量的外匯存底累積，美國支持不下的經常賬赤字，貨幣的不平流衡運用等，都是書中所探討的問題。書中用極大篇幅闡述新興市場經濟體的政策和不健康發展是導致國際金融市場不穩定的肇因。雖然內容頗為艱深，而且數據有落後之虞，但不失為一本加深讀者瞭解宏觀經濟學和個體經濟學之間互動的好書。極力推介。