A number of changes have been made to the supervision and regulation of banks as a result of the recent financial meltdown. Some are for the better, such as the Basel III rules for increasing the quality and quantity of capital in banks, but legal changes on both sides of the Atlantic now make it much more difficult to resolve failing banks by means of taxpayer funded bail-outs and could hinder bank resolution in future financial crises. In this book, Johan A. Lybeck uses case studies from Europe and the United States to examine and grade a number of bank resolutions in the last financial crisis and establish which were successful, which failed, and why. Using in-depth analysis of recent legislation, he explains how a bank resolution can be successful, and emphasizes the need for taxpayer-funded bail-outs to create a viable banking system that will promote economic and financial stability.

We have just experienced the worst financial crash the world has seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. While real economies in general did not crash as they did in the 1930s, the financial parts of the economy certainly did, or, at least, came very close to doing so. Hundreds of banks in the United States and Europe have been closed by their supervisory authorities, forcibly merged with stronger partners, nationalized or recapitalized with the tax payers' money. Banks and insurance companies had, by mid 2010, already written off some 2000 billion dollars in credit write-downs on loans and securities. In this book, Johan Lybeck draws on his experience as both an academic economist and a professional banker to present a detailed yet non-technical analysis of the crash. He describes how the crisis began in early 2007, explains why it happened and shows how it compares to earlier financial crises.

This encyclopedia is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of reference for sustainability in business and management. It covers both traditional and emerging concepts and terms and is fully international in its scope. More than 700 contributions of internationally renowned experts provide a definitive access to the knowledge in the area of sustainable and responsible management. All actors in the field will find reliable and up to date definitions and explanations of the key terms and concepts of management in this reference work. The Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management represents all aspects of management and business conduct. It takes sustainability as a management concept that gives due credit to the complexity and diverging constraints in which businesses and corporations act today, and it emphasizes and focuses approaches that help ensure that today's management decisions and actions will be the basis for tomorrow's prosperity.

This book explores the rapidly evolving law of individual insolvency. As consumer borrowing and spending play a greater and greater role in fueling worldwide economic growth, more and more countries are dealing with the casualties of the "democratization of credit" and the "open credit economy." This book explores the struggles that led to the implementation and continuous revision of consumer insolvency law throughout much of Europe in the 1990s and early 2000s. Drawing on both primary sources of formal law and empirical studies of the law in action, this book offers an overview of how the law of consumer "overindebtedness" has played out in the last two decades in the United States and Europe and where it appears to be headed today. While the focus here is on law and practice, the questions for discussion at the end of each chapter might spawn deeper theoretical and policy explorations of the ambivalent relationship of societies to their financially overextended consumers and the ambiguous state of contract law in the consumer context in the 21st century. Chapter 1 sets the stage by introducing the challenges and methodology of a comparative approach to this area of the law. Chapter 2 explores the varying form and role of "credit counseling" and pre-bankruptcy negotiation with creditors in the various systems presented. Chapters 3 and 4 compare and contrast the form and function of the formal consumer insolvency systems in the United States, France, Germany, Austria, England & Wales, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, and Luxembourg. This book is designed for use either in a comparative law course, using consumer insolvency systems to illustrate many of the challenges of comparative law analysis, or in a basic bankruptcy course, using a variety of European approaches and their development over time to enlighten and challenge students' appreciation of the operation of the U.S. system. This book is part of the Comparative Law Series, edited by Michael L. Corrado, Arch T. Allen Distinguished Professor of Law, UNC School of Law. "Each chapter is punctuated with thoughtful discussion questions that will spark debate about the merits of various countries' solutions to the problem of consumer debt." -- Harvard Law Review "Throughout the book Kilborn employs the welcoming tone of a seasoned and passionate educator, with a touch of humor, at the same time appealing to the sense of certainty that law students so often crave...Kilborn is to be congratulated." -- The Law and Politics Book Review

As stable political alliances in democracies have dissolved, populism deepens social and economic divisions rather than addressing economic insecurity.