Suchergebnisse

In recent years, the globalization of financial asset markets has become increasingly important and has led to closer linkages among these markets. New global investment instruments such as sovereign credit default swaps, exchange traded funds, and bond markets have been created, enabling investors to fine tune their investment portfolios to their likings. Financial investments have been further expanded to include real asset investments such as real estate investments. It is important for global investors to make proper decisions in assessing these investments in their asset allocations and for policymakers who can provide sound policy guidance to cope with the globalization of the financial markets. This volume contributes to a fresh perspective on the economic and finance research on international financial markets and also the commodity markets. It enables scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to better understand the changes and dynamics of commodity and financial asset trading following the recent global financial crisis. This volume contains a comprehensive analysis of international financial markets through a series of essays from leading researchers in the field.

The current fi nancial crisis has not come about by chance. It is the result of a system that has emerged over the last 30 years and which Keynes may well have called the 'casino economy'. The dominance of fi nance over real economy characterises the fi nancial crisis, while fi nance itself is dominated by the all-encompassing target of maximum profi t at all times. Other aims of economic activity such as job creation, social welfare and development have fallen by the wayside. In response, new actors are surfacing, e.g. the institutional investor (hedge funds, private equity funds, etc.), while new instruments are leading to highly leveraged and destabilising derivatives. The casino system has been promoted by governments and intergovernmental institutions to liberalise and deregulate fi nancial markets. Although developing countries have not participated in the casino system, they have been suffering most from the spill-over into the real economy. The main lesson learnt is that the casino has to be closed. ; Paper presented at a meeting of the Joint Globalization Task Team of the Reformed Churches of Germany and South Africa, held at Arnoldsheim, Frankfurt, Germany, 26–30 May 2008. ; http://www.hts.org.za ; am2015