These essays span the author's thirty years in professional economics. Fundamental papers on vertical (industrial) control, property rights, approaches to market behaviour, macroeconomic dynamics and the paper-money systems of 18th century British North America are revised and reappraised.

Central banking is being turned upside down by innovations such as securitization, complex options dealings and Euro-asset transactions that are denationalizing money and making it impossible for central banks to regulate costs of capital. Nor can central banks modulate business cycles in open economies; study of banking policy and business fluctuations suggests that the 'real' importance of bank-credit changes has long been exaggerated. The new art of central banking may culminate in masterly inactivity.

The financial market events in 2007-2009 have spurred renewed interest and controversy in debates regarding financial regulation and supervision. This book takes stock of the developments in EU legislation, case law and institutional structures with regards to banking regulation and supervision, which preceded and followed the recent financial crisis. It does not merely provide an update, but anchors these developments into the broader EU law context, challenging past paradigms and anticipating possible developments. The author provides a systematic analysis of the interactions between the content of prudential rules and the mechanisms behind their production and application European Prudential Banking Regulation and Supervision includes discussions of the European banking market structure and of regulatory theory that both aim to circumscribe prudential concerns. It scrutinises the content of prudential norms, proposes a qualification of these norms and an assessment of their interaction with other types of norms (corporate, auditing and accounting, consumer protection, competition rules). It also features an analysis of the underpinning institutional set-up and its envisaged reforms, focusing on the typical EU concerns related to checks and balances. Finally, the book attempts to revive the debate on supervisory liability, in light of the developments discussed. This book will be of great value to all those interested in financial stability matters (practitioners, policy-makers, students, academics), as well as to EU law scholars.

The excessive risk-taking at banks might account for the failure of financial undertakings, as well as to systemic problems in the European Union and around the world. The inappropriate design of remuneration systems in many financial institutions is reported to induce such risk-taking. The EU regulators have intervened through legislative measures which have been differently implemented in Member States. Such legislative measures face critics due to the restriction in banks’ freedom of business. However, this book will point out that regulations are necessary and can be justified in order to protect the common good of a sound functioning financial market. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of current legislative provisions is challenged. Therefore, this book will critically analyse the legislation of bankers’ remuneration, focussing on relevant EU, UK and German measures.

The financial markets have turned open-economy monetary economics on its head. This book explains the implications of these developments for theory and policy in the practices of the 1980s and 1990s, aiming to escape from the Keynsesian modes of thought and expression.

Supplies extensive material making it possible for the reader to understand how Thomas Jefferson's mind spanned the vast distance separating antiquity from writers like William James and Sigmund Freud, analyzing his studies in economics, moral philosophy, history and law.