This book contains the proceedings of a conference held in honor of Robert P. Flood Jr. Contributors to the conference were invited to address many of the topics that Robert Flood has explored including regime switching, speculative attacks, bubbles, stock market voloatility, macro models with nominal rigidities, dual exchange rates, target zones, and rules versus discretion in monetary policy. The results, contained in this volume, include five papers on topics in international finance.

The recent global financial crisis has caused massive upheavals worldwide. The papers in this volume analyze whether financial principles seem to have shifted in recent years, and what that may mean for international financial markets and regulation. What “broke” in the current crisis? Is there no “playbook” on how to respond to systemic crises? What is the optimal role of the state in dealing with crises? How should asset bubbles be addressed in the future? Do we need a major overhaul of governance in the industry? What means exist to address systemic crises? What reforms are needed? These and related issues are discussed by an impressive list of well-known scholars, policymakers and practitioners, with an emphasis on the implications for public policy.

The global financial crisis has caused massive upheavals worldwide. This volume analyzes whether financial principles seem to have shifted, and what that may mean for international financial markets and regulation. It discusses these and related issues.

This new edition of Financial Crises and Recession in the Global Economy explores the major financial instabilities and evolutionary trends in the global economy since the 1970s. A learned but accessible book, it is perfect for a broad audience of academics and practitioners but has also been used as a supplementary textbook for courses in international economics, international finance, money and banking, and macroeconomics.

This paper reviews the literature on financial crises focusing on three specific aspects. First, what are the main factors explaining financial crises? Since many theories on the sources of financial crises highlight the importance of sharp fluctuations in asset and credit markets, the paper briefly reviews theoretical and empirical studies on developments in these markets around financial crises. Second, what are the major types of financial crises? The paper focuses on the main theoretical and empirical explanations of four types of financial crises—currency crises, sudden stops, debt crises, and banking crises—and presents a survey of the literature that attempts to identify these episodes. Third, what are the real and financial sector implications of crises? The paper briefly reviews the short- and medium-run implications of crises for the real economy and financial sector. It concludes with a summary of the main lessons from the literature and future research directions.

Tirole analyzes the current views on financial crises and on the reform of the international financial architecture. Based on the Paolo Baffi Lecture the author delivered at the Bank of Italy, this refreshingly accessible book is teeming with rich insights that researchers, policy makers, and students at all levels will find indispensable.