In the early post-Soviet period, Ukraine appeared to be firmly on the path to democracy. But the Kuchma presidency was clouded by dark rumors of corruption and even political murder, and, by 2004, the country was in full-blown political crisis. This book looks beyond these dramatic events and aims to identify the actual play of power in Ukraine.

Volume II of this book grew out of the author’s work as an economist for the U.S. Congress on the staff of the House Banking Committee under Chairman Wright Patman and his successor, Chairman Henry Reuss; as an analyst for the Congressional Budget Office; and as finance economist for the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Consumer Protection and Finance. It is a re-examination of the validity of traditional concerns in order to establish the Context for congressional actions to modify the existing regulatory and structural framework.

In the early post-Soviet period, Ukraine appeared to be firmly on the path to democracy. But the Kuchma presidency was clouded by dark rumors of corruption and even political murder, and, by 2004, the country was in full-blown political crisis. This book looks beyond these dramatic events and aims to identify the actual play of power in Ukraine.

Policy makers around the globe will find that Restructuring Regulation and Financial Institutions offers a cogent assessment of the contemporary regulatory environment in the U.S. financial markets, and a blueprint for action in evolving global financial markets. Financial markets are among the most highly-regulated markets in the world. Nevertheless, financial crises still occur, witness the U.S. savings-and-loan fiasco of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the Mexican and East Asian Financial implosions of 1994 and 1997. What role does regulation play in stabilizing-or-destabilizing financial markets? Restructuring Regulation and Financial Institutions answers this question with incisive analysis of financial market regulation in the United States. Each paper considers how regulation enhances or impedes the efficiency of a particular financial sector, and is followed by comments by two or three noted experts. The result of this approach is a wealth of useful information that may be applied by policy makers contemplating the restructuring of regulations and financial institutions. The contributors to this volume are distinguished economists, many of whom have careers not just in business, government, or academia, but have held influential positions in all three. Such varied backgrounds enable the contributors to offer remarkable insights based on the best of theory and practice. Never before has understanding the workings of U.S. financial market regulation been so important to the development of world financial markets. The ramifications of financial regulation in the United States extend far beyond the nation's borders. World financial markets are undergoing dramatic change, driven by the rapid development and deployment of new technology that enables information-and money-to travel farther, faster. However, a Byzantine array of regulatory structures in the international arena hinders the development of efficient global financial markets. Policy makers around the world are attempting to address the issues by emulating the financial markets of the United States.

A Brookings Institution Press and Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research publication The financial crisis of 2007–08 and the Great Recession caused more widespread economic trauma than any event since the Great Depression. With a slow and uneven recovery, encouraging stability and growth is critical. Financial Restructuring to Sustain Recovery maintains that while each part of the financial services industry can play a useful role in revving up the U.S. economic engine to full capacity, the necessary reforms are sometimes subtle and often difficult to implement. Editors Martin Neil Baily, Richard Herring, and Yuta Seki and their coauthors break recovery down by three areas: Restructuring the housing finance market Reforming the bankruptcy process Reenergizing the market for initial public offerings Included are lessons drawn from Japan's experience in overcoming its long-lasting financial crisis after the collapse of its real estate market in the 1990s. Contributors: Franklin Allen (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), James R. Barth (Auburn University College of Business; Milken Institute), Thomas Jackson (Simon School of Business, University of Rochester), Jay R. Ritter (Warrington College of Business, University of Florida), David Skeel (University of Pennsylvania Law School), and Glenn Yago (Milken Institute).

Collectively, mankind has never had it so good despite periodic economic crises of which the current sub-prime crisis is merely the latest example. Much of this success is attributable to the increasing efficiency of the world's financial institutions as finance has proved to be one of the most important causal factors in economic performance. In a series of insightful essays, financial and economic historians examine how financial innovations from the seventeenth century to the present have continually challenged established institutional arrangements, forcing change and adaptation by governments, financial intermediaries, and financial markets. Where these have been successful, wealth creation and growth have followed. When they failed, growth slowed and sometimes economic decline has followed. These essays illustrate the difficulties of co-ordinating financial innovations in order to sustain their benefits for the wider economy, a theme that will be of interest to policy makers as well as economic historians.