Suchergebnisse

The break-up of the euro is a probable "impossibility" -- The start of deglobalization -- Every economy is sick in its own way -- Was political action an honest brokerage or a trap? -- Has euroland been a big political mistake? -- Default on debt which is no more "domestic" -- The lack of leadership is deeply felt in western countries -- Emu and the bubble of eldorado riches -- Europe is paying the price of mismanagement -- Spending time and money on useless "summits" -- If it's a casino society, take me to Las Vegas -- Crisis meetings of chiefs of state without tangible results -- When Europe is stalling the field is open to folklore -- The 19th "summit's" miracle weapons : June 28/29, 2012 -- Throwing the dice in Brussels -- Monti's delight and Merkel's sorrow -- Troubled countries relief program -- With storm clouds over euroland : it's no time for miracle weapons -- Euroland's banking union -- The pains of the Italian economy -- The pains of the Spanish economy and of its banking industry -- ECB, EFSF, ESM, eurobonds and political horse trading -- The European financial stability facility -- European stability mechanism -- Leveraging euroland's funds is wrong way risk -- Dead cat walking : eurobonds -- The French connection -- Throwing money to a four-letter wind : LTRO -- Long term refinancing operation : the Sarkozy trade -- Euroland's drift to financial mismanagement -- The destination of LTRO funds is as important as their amount -- LTROs have moral hazard -- How the powerful became powerless -- Fiscal compact and outright monetary transactions -- The fiscal compact is an upgraded stability and growth pact -- What the fiscal compact might worth in the longer term? -- Economic problems mount as sovereigns lose their luster -- European banking industry and the Liikanen committee -- Outright monetary transactions (OMT) -- Why OMT may end up in a fiasco -- Target2. The creeping risk of a financial nuclear bomb -- Target2 imbalances are still on the rise -- Break

The private equity industry is at a cross-roads. In the easy money years between 2004 and 2008, it was awash with investment, debt was easily obtained and some rash, over-leveraged deals were done by the so-called 'mega buyout' funds. Today, fund managers are dealing with the legacy of that era, while also figuring out how best to secure new investment and make attractive returns in the age of deleveraging. Many firms are succeeding, sometimes spectacularly, in both developed and emerging markets. Some have developed innovative new business models, while others have reinvented the old. This book contains exclusive interviews with the leaders of many of the world's most successful and innovative funds. These include: Steve Klinsky and Ajit Nedungadi of US growth investors New Mountain Capital and TA Associates; Jon Moulton and Wol Kolade of the British turnaround and growth specialists Better Capital and ISIS Equity Partners; Niten Malhan of Warburg Pincus' Indian operation; Derek Sulger, an Anglo-American who transitioned from setting up telecoms businesses in the country to founding Lunar Capital, which backs Indigenous entrepreneurs; pan-emerging market specialist Actis and innovative investors in Africa and the Middle East such as Citadel Capital's Hisham El-Khazindar and Abraaj's Mustafa Abdel-Wadood. These in-depth interviews tease out issues such as how private equity managers can best create enterprise value and out-perform public markets without returning to pre-crisis levels of leverage, techniques for differentiating a firm's capital, the sustainability of private equity in emerging markets, the role of the industry in low-income countries and alternatives to the established limited partnership governance model. The Future of Private Equity: Beyond the Mega Buyout is essential reading for anyone working in or with the private equity industry, anywhere in the world.

"Angela Merkel was already unique when she became German chancellor: the first female leader of Europe's biggest economy, the first from former communist East Germany and the first born after World War II. Since 2010, the debt crisis that spread from Greece to the euro region and the world economy has propelled her to center-stage, making Merkel the dominant politician in the struggle to preserve Europe's economic model and its single currency. Yet the Protestant pastor's daughter is often viewed as enigmatic and hard-to-predict, a misreading that took hold as she resisted global pressure for grand gestures to counter the crisis. Having turned the fall of the Berlin Wall to her advantage, Merkel is trying to get history on her side again after reaching the fundamental decision to save the euro, the crowning achievement of post-war European unity. Merkel has brought Europe to a crossroads. Germany's economic might gives her unprecedented power to set the direction for the European Union's 500 million people. What's at stake is whether she will persuade them to follow the German lead. Angela Merkel: A Chancellorship Forged in Crisis is the definitive new biography of the world's most powerful woman. Delving into Merkel's past, the authors explain the motives behind her drive to remake Europe for the age of globalization, her economic role models and the experiences under communism that color her decisions. For the first time in English, Merkel is fully placed in her European context. Through exclusive interviews with leading policy makers and Merkel confidants, the book reveals the behind-the-scenes drama of the crisis that came to dominate her chancellorship, her prickly relationship with the U.S. and admiration for Eastern Europe. Written by two long-standing Merkel watchers, the book documents how her decisions and vision -- both works in progress -- are shaping a pivotal moment in European history."--Publisher's website.

The definitive new edition of the most trusted book on municipal bonds As of the end of 1998, municipal bonds, issued by state or local governments to finance public works programs, such as the building of schools, streets, and electrical grids, totaled almost $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt, a number that has only increased over time. The market for these bonds is comprised of many types of professionals--investment bankers, underwriters, traders, analysts, attorneys, rating agencies, brokers, and regulators--who are paid interest and principal according to a fixed schedule. Intended for investment professionals interested in how US municipal bonds work, The Fundamentals of Municipal Bonds, Sixth Edition explains the bond contract and recent changes in this market, providing investors with the information and tools they need to make bonds reliable parts of their portfolios. The market is very different from when the fifth edition was published more than ten years ago, and this revision reasserts Fundamentals of Municipal Bonds as the preeminent text in the field Explores the basics of municipal securities, including the issuers, the primary market, and the secondary market Key areas, such as investing in bonds, credit analysis, interest rates, and regulatory and disclosure requirements, are covered in detail This revised edition includes appendixes, a glossary, and a list of financial products related to applying the fundamentals of municipal bonds An official book of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) With today's financial market in recovery and still highly volatile, investors are looking for a safe and steady way to grow their money without having to invest in stocks. The bond market has always been a safe haven, although confusing new bonds and bond funds make it increasingly difficult for unfamiliar investors to decide on the most suitable fixed income investments.

The 'Arab Spring' of 2011 has affected the countries of the region to varying degrees, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain. The GCC has become a significant regional bloc playing a vital economic and political role far beyond its shores, given its geopolitical strategic location, a preponderance of global energy reserves and a major international player through the use of accumulated financial reserves. A new Gulf is rising, one that is more self assertive, looking to expand its membership to other Arab countries such as Jordan and Morocco, while at the same time strengthening the bloc's relationship with current and emerging trading and strategic partners in Europe, USA and Asia. Regional and international realities, especially the uncertainties unleashed by the 'Arab Spring', are forcing Gulf leadership to initiate new policies involving closer cooperation amongst GCC countries to address emerging challenges. This volume brings together thirty renowned academics and specialists to examine a range of multifaceted social, political and economic issues facing the GCC in key areas such as: Diversification from a high dependency on a narrow hydrocarbon base - Social transformation, youth employment and effective gender participation - Outward and inward foreign direct investment flows - Prospects for education reforms and e-learning - Sustainable security in oil, renewable energy (including nuclear) and food - Corporate governance, transparency and enhancing the private sector's operating environment - The role and governance of Gulf Sovereign Wealth Funds in investing their surpluses. The volume also offers insights for challenges facing the GCC in monetary union, expanding the regional debt market and Sukuk issuance, GCC intellectual property rights application, detailed assessments of individual GCC country risk analysis, as well as the sustainability of long term government fiscal stimulus programs at the expense of private sector involvement.

"The Rise and Decline of the American 'Empire' explores the rapidly growing literature on the rise and fall of the United States. The author argues that after 1945 the US has definitely been the most dominant power the world has seen and that it has successfully met the challenges from, first, the Soviet Union and, then, Japan, and the European Union. Now, however, the United States is in decline: its vast military power is being challenged by asymmetrical wars, its economic growth is slow and its debt is rising rapidly, the political system is proving unable to meet these challenges in a satisfactory way. While the US is still likely to remain the world's leading power for the foreseeable future, it is being challenged by China, particularly economically, and also by several other regional Great Powers. The book also addresses the more theoretical question of what recent superpowers have been able to achieve and what they have not achieved. How could the United States be both the dominant power and at the same time suffer significant defeats? And how could the Soviet Union suddenly collapse? No power has ever been omnipotent. It cannot control events all around the world. The Soviet Union suffered from imperial overstretch; the traditional colonial empires suffered from a growing lack oflegitimacy at the international, national, and local levels. The United States has been able to maintain its alliance system, but only in a much reformed way. If a small power simply insists on pursuing its own very different policies, there is normally little the United States and other Great Powers will do. Military intervention is an option that can be used only rarely and most often with strikingly limited results"--Provided by publisher

They're Stealing Us Blind Remember when we used to call government employees "public servants"? They're servants no more--now they're bureaucratic masters of the universe, claiming inflated salaries (up to two times as much as private sector employees) and early retirement with unparalleled pensions and benefits. And how do they spend their time? When they're actually working, they spin red tape and regulations that make your life harder (and their lives easier), your taxes higher, and your share of the nation's debt unsustainable. Like true bureaucrats they like to scurry around in the dark, doing their mischief outside of public scrutiny. But no longer: Iain Murray--author of the rollicking expos#65533; The Really Inconvenient Truths--knows all about bureaucrats and their lairs, because he used to be one himself. In Stealing You Blind he blows the whistle on the out-of-control bureaucracy whose greed could actually tip our country into a financial abyss. In Stealing You Blind, you'll discover: Why the wealthiest congressional district in America is in a recession-proof suburb of Washington, D.C. How the Department of Transportation went from having one employee making 170,000 or more to having nearly 1,700 making that much--during the peak of the recession Why even FDR thought federal workers shouldn't be allowed to unionize How state, local, and federal bankruptcy could be coming your way thanks to public employee union greed Why bureaucrats regard taxpayers as sheep to be shorn--and how they do it Ten steps to fight back and regain control of our government from the parasitic bureaucratic class Filled with devastating facts about how government workers are living large off the rest of us and driving our country to financial ruin, Stealing You Blind is a rousing call to reclaim our rights as taxpayers and save our economy from the bureaucrats

"We address the question of the prediction of large failures, busts, or system collapse, and the necessary concepts related to risk quantification, minimization and management. Answering this question requires a new approach since predictions using standard financial techniques and statistical distributions fail to predict or anticipate crises. The key points are that financial markets, systems, trading and manoeuvres are not just about money, debt, stocks, instruments and assets but reflect the actions and motivations of humans, which includes the presence or absence of learning effects. Therefore we have the possibility of failures or rare or low frequency events due to human involvement. The rare or unknown event is directly due to human influence, and reflects both learning and risk taking, with the presence of the finite and persistent human error contribution while taking or exposed to risk. This presence of humans in the marketplace explains the failure of present purely statistical methods to correctly estimate, predict or determine the onset of financial crises, busts and collapses.In this essay, we unify the concepts for predicting financial systemic risk with the general theory for outcomes, trends and measures already derived for other technical and social systems with human involvement. We replace words and qualitative reasoning with measures and quantitative predictions. The paper is therefore written with an introductory section devoted to the measures relevant to risk prediction in other modern technological systems; and is then extended and applied specifically to risk prediction for financial and business systems. The resulting measures also provide useful guidance for risk governance.Published: The Quantification of Systemic Risk and Stability: New Methods and Measures, Romney B. Duffey, in Quantifying Systemic Risk (2010), University of Chicago Press"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site

"We live in an Age of Endarkenment. Our economic, social and political systems have failed us. Modern economics has not done what it promised. It has widened the gap between rich and poor. It has not allocated the world's resources fairly. It has brought the West to the brink of financial ruin. It has valued short-term gain more than long-term progress. It has made us focus on the individual, not society. The social consequences are easy to see. Much of the world is laden with debt. Our planet is being scraped clean of the resources needed by future generations. Science and technology are exploited for profit, not social advancement. The cult of celebrity, rise in global greed and belief that information is knowledge are limiting our imaginations. We are ill-equipped to respond to these challenges. We have been dumbed-down. Our politicians have become self-serving. They play on our fears, monitor us without justification and promote conflicts for their own interests. China's rise will make these problems worse. Without a rethink, we face many unwelcome changes. Poverty will grow. Standards of health will decline. Resource shortages will change our way of life. Tensions between peoples will grow. During the Age of Enlightenment our societies flourished, propelled by the wonder of new discoveries, radical ideas for economic and social development and a sense that we all had a responsibility to improve our world. We need to step back from the Age of Endarkenment. We need to examine our values. We need to work out what humankind really wants. If it is not just about just money and Twitter and Oprah, what is it? In this thought-provoking, lively and entertaining book, Graeme Maxton looks at what brought us to this state and what we can do about it"--Publisher's website

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Table of Contents -- 1. Why Socialism? (1949) -- 2. The Negro Question (1946) -- 3. Science and Society (1935) -- 4. Towards a World Government (1946) -- 5. The Way Out (1946) -- 6. On Receiving the One World Award (1948) -- 7. Science and Civilization (1933) -- 8. A Message to Intellectuals (1948) -- 9. Open Letter to the General Assembly of the United Nations (1947) -- 10. Dr. Einstein's Mistaken Notions-An Open Letter from Sergei Vavilov, A. N. Frumkin, A. F. Joffe, and N. N. Semyonov (1947) -- A Reply to the Soviet Scientists (1948) -- 11. For an Organization of Intellectual Workers (1945) -- 12. "Was Europe a Success?" (1934) -- 13. At a Gathering for Freedom of Opinion (1936) -- 14. Atomic War or Peace (I-1945 -- II-1947) -- 15. The War Is Won but Peace Is Not (1945) -- 16. The Menace of Mass Destruction (1947) -- 17. The Schools and the Problem of Peace (1934) -- 18. On Military Service (1934) -- 19. Military Intrusion in Science (1947) -- The Military Mentality -- 20. International Security (1933) -- 21. Isaac Newton (1942) -- 22. Johannes Kepler (1949) -- 23. Marie Curie in Memoriam (1935) -- 24. Max Planck in Memoriam (1948) -- 25. Paul Langevin in Memoriam (1947) -- 26. Walther Nernst in Memoriam (1942) -- 27. Paul Ehrenfest in Memoriam (1934) -- 28. Mahatma Gandhi (1939) -- 29. Carl von Ossietzky (1946) -- 30. Why Do They Hate the Jews? (1938) -- Just What Is a Jew? -- Where Oppression Is a Stimulus -- 31. The Dispersal of European Jewry (1948) -- 32. Let's Not Forget (1934) -- 33. Unpublished Preface to a Blackbook (1945) -- 34. The Goal of Human Existence (1943) -- 35. Our Debt to Zionism (1938) -- 36. To the Heroes of the Battle of the Warsaw Ghetto (1944) -- 37. Before the Monument to the Martyred Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto (1948) -- 38. The Calling of the Jews (1936) -- 39. Moses Maimonides (1935)

"We live in an Age of Endarkenment. Our economic, social and political systems have failed us. Modern economics has not done what it promised. It has widened the gap between rich and poor. It has not allocated the world's resources fairly. It has brought the West to the brink of financial ruin. It has valued short-term gain more than long-term progress. It has made us focus on the individual, not society. The social consequences are easy to see. Much of the world is laden with debt. Our planet is being scraped clean of the resources needed by future generations. Science and technology are exploited for profit, not social advancement. The cult of celebrity, rise in global greed and belief that information is knowledge are limiting our imaginations. We are ill-equipped to respond to these challenges. We have been dumbed-down. Our politicians have become self-serving. They play on our fears, monitor us without justification and promote conflicts for their own interests. China's rise will make these problems worse. Without a rethink, we face many unwelcome changes. Poverty will grow. Standards of health will decline. Resource shortages will change our way of life. Tensions between peoples will grow. During the Age of Enlightenment our societies flourished, propelled by the wonder of new discoveries, radical ideas for economic and social development and a sense that we all had a responsibility to improve our world. We need to step back from the Age of Endarkenment. We need to examine our values. We need to work out what humankind really wants. If it is not just about just money and Twitter and Oprah, what is it? In this thought-provoking, lively and entertaining book, Graeme Maxton looks at what brought us to this state and what we can do about it"--Publisher's website

A brilliant new reading of the economic crisis-and a plan for dealing with the challenge of its aftermath-by one of our most trenchant and informed experts.When the nation's economy foundered in 2008, blame was directed almost universally at Wall Street. But Robert B. Reich suggests a different reason for the meltdown, and for a perilous road ahead. He argues that the real problem is structural: it lies in the increasing concentration of income and wealth at the top, and in a middle class that has had to go deeply into debt to maintain a decent standard of living.Persuasively and straightforwardly, Reich reveals how precarious our situation still is. The last time in American history when wealth was so highly concentrated at the top-indeed, when the top 1 percent of the population was paid 23 percent of the nation's income-was in 1928, just before the Great Depression. Such a disparity leads to ever greater booms followed by ever deeper busts. Reich's thoughtful and detailed account of where we are headed over the next decades reveals the essential truth about our economy that is driving our politics and shaping our future. With keen insight, he shows us how the middle class lacks enough purchasing power to buy what the economy can produce and has adopted coping mechanisms that have a negative impact on their quality of life; how the rich use their increasing wealth to speculate; and how an angrier politics emerges as more Americans conclude that the game is rigged for the benefit of a few. Unless this trend is reversed, the Great Recession will only be repeated. Reich's assessment of what must be done to reverse course and ensure that prosperity is widely shared represents the path to a necessary and long-overdue transformation. Aftershock is a practical, humane, and much-needed blueprint for both restoring America's economy and rebuilding our

This is the thirtieth volume in the series How Ottawa Spends. It is arguable that never in these years have Canadians faced such serious economic upheaval and political dysfunction as the current climate. The dramatic and seemingly sudden changes in the economy occurred simultaneously with a political drama - one that was largely disassociated from the real and pressing economic challenge. Early Harper budgets delivered lower taxes for all Canadians partly through highly targeted but politically noticeable small tax breaks on textbooks for students, tools for apprentices in skilled trades, and public transit costs. The needs of the beleaguered average Canadian and the "swing voter in the swing constituencies" of an already strategized "next" election were a key part of Conservative agenda-setting. In the 2007 budget alone there were twenty-nine separate tax reductions and federal spending was projected to increase by $10 billion, including a 5.7 percent increase in program spending. A small surplus of $3.3 billion was planned, almost all of which would go to debt reduction. As Harper savoured his 14 October 2008 re-election with a strengthened minority government, although without his desired majority, he and his minister of Finance already knew that his surpluses were likely gone in the face of the crashing financial sector and a looming recession. Future deficits were firmly back on the agenda. Contributors include Malcolm G. Bird (Carleton University), Chris Brown (Carleton University), G. Bruce Doern (Carleton University and University of Exeter), Melissa Haussman (Carleton University), Robert Hilton (Carleton University), Ruth Hubbard (University of Ottawa), Edward T. Jackson (Carleton University), Kirsten Kozolanka (Carleton University), Evert Lindquist (University of Victoria), Allan M. Maslove (Carleton University), Peter Nares (Social and Enterprise Development Innovations), Gilles Paquet (University of Ottawa), L. Pauline Rankin (Carleton University), Jennifer Robson (Carleton University), Robert P. Shepherd (Carleton University), Richard Shillington (Informetrica Limited), and Chris Stoney (Carleton University)

"The growth of the price of oil since 1999 was the prerequisite for the economic and political stabilization of Russia. As a result the international influence of Russia has increased. The enormous economic growth is the basis for a new selfconfidence among the Russian elite concerning foreign policy. During the last few years, Russia has serviced its foreign debts and built up a constantly growing stability fund. Thus the country has gained room to maneuver internationally and to participate in the mediation of international conflicts. But there are still considerable shortcomings in implementing comprehensive reforms of the economic structure by the Russian leadership. Corruption and inefficient administrative structures, including the increasing influence of the state on the economy, have hindered fundamental reforms. The high price of oil has contributed to delaying the readiness for more reforms in the short term. The Russian leadership did not use the years of growth to set important reform impulses. The major challenges for the Russian economic policy are to diversify its production structure, to stimulate private investment in all areas of the economy, and to increase public funding for infrastructure, the health system and education. In terms of the international framework, Russia intends to integrate itself in all important economic institutions and be on equal footing with other members. At the same time, for instance in the energy sector, Russia aims to either renegotiate the rules or, like with the WTO-accession, slow down the process. This is due to the increasing misgivings of parts of the elite about international integration, the interest to negotiate better conditions and the delaying of important economic reforms. The intervention of politics in the economy linked with a high regulation requirement undermines the build-up of trust in Russian economic policies." (excerpt)

Forgiveness ancient and modern -- Pardon, excuse, and forgiveness in ancient philosophy : the standpoint of perfection -- Bishop Butler's seminal analysis -- Resentment -- Forgiveness -- Forgiveness at its best -- Forgiveness, revenge, and resentment -- Resentment and self-respect -- To be forgiven: changing your ways, contrition, and regret -- Forgiving: a change of heart, and seeing the offender and oneself in a new light -- The conditions of forgiveness: objections and replies -- Atonement and the payment or dismissal of a debt -- Forgiveness as a gift and unconditional forgiveness -- Praiseworthy conditional forgiveness -- Moral monsters, shared humanity, and sympathy -- Moral monsters -- Shared humanity and fallibility, compassion, and pity -- Sympathy -- The unforgivable and the unforgiven -- Forgiveness, narrative, and ideals -- Forgiveness, reconciliation, and friendship -- Imperfect forgiveness -- Ideal and non-ideal forgiveness: an inclusive or exclusive relation? -- Third party forgiveness -- Unilateral forgiveness: the dead and the unrepentant -- Forgiving the dead -- Forgiving the unrepentant -- Self-forgiveness -- For injuries to others -- For injuries to oneself -- For injuries one could not help inflicting -- Forgiveness and moral luck -- Political apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation -- Apology and forgiveness writ large: questions and distinctions -- Political apology among the one and many -- Many to many apology: test cases -- The University of Alabama and the legacy of slavery -- Apology, reparations, and the wartime internment of Japanese-Americans -- Desmond Tutu and South African churches -- King Hussein in Israel -- The United States Senate and the victims of lynching -- One to many apology: two failures -- Robert McNamara's war and mea culpa -- Richard Nixon's resignation and pardon -- Traditional rituals of reconciliation: apology, forgiveness, or pardon? -- Apology and the unforgivable -- Apology, forgiveness, and civic reconciliation -- A culture of apology and of forgiveness : risks and abuses -- Political apology, narrative, and ideals -- Truth, memory, and civic reconciliation without apology -- The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: an interpretation -- Reconciliation without apology?