The Wealth Effect:
How the great expectations of the middle class have changed the politics of banking crises
Reviewer: William Allen
The politics of major banking crises has been transformed since the nineteenth century. Analyzing extensive historical and contemporary evidence, Chwieroth and Walter demonstrate that the rising wealth of the middle class has generated 'great expectations' among voters that the government is responsible for the protection of this wealth.
Radical Uncertainty
Decision‑Making or an Unknowable Future
Reviewer: Vicky Pryce
We do not know what the future will hold. But we must make decisions anyway. So we crave certainties which cannot exist and invent knowledge we cannot have. But humans are successful because they have adapted to an environment that they understand only imperfectly. Throughout history we have developed a variety of ways of coping with the radical uncertainty that defines our lives.
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Central Banking in Turbulent Times
Reviewer: Mario Pisani
Central Banking in Turbulent Times examines fundamental questions about the central banking system, asking whether the model of an independent central bank devoted to price stability is the final resting point of a complex development that started centuries ago. It dissects the hypothesis that the Great Recession has prompted a reassessment of that model; a renewed emphasis on financial stability has emerged, possibly vying for first rank in the hierarchy of objectives of central banks.
Bloomberg by Bloomberg
Reviewer: Ian Harwood
Michael Bloomberg rose from middle-class Medford, Massachusetts to become a pioneer of the computer age, mayor of New York, one of the world's most generous philanthropists, and one of America's most respected—and fearless—voices on gun violence, climate change, public health, and other issues. And it all happened after he got fired at the age of 39. This is his story, told in his own words and in his own candid style.
Beyond Brexit: A Programme for UK Reform
Reviewer: Neville R Norman, University of Melbourne
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research asked Llewellyn Consulting and Gatehouse Advisory Partners to commission a special collection of papers on the problems faced by Britain that go beyond Brexit per se for the 250th issue of its quarterly Review. The papers under the auspices of the newly established Policy Reform Group provide an agenda for the reform of the British political, economic and administrative landscape that will help secure a more robust future for the peoples of these islands.
Heroes or Villains?
The Blair Government reconsidered
Reviewer: Mario Pisani
Tony Blair was the political colossus in Britain for thirteen years, winning three elections in a row for New Labour, two of them by huge majorities. However, since leaving office he has been disowned by many in his own party, with the term 'Blairite' becoming an insult. The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader in 2015 seemed to be, if not an equal, at least an opposite reaction to Blair's long dominance of the centre and left of British politics.
Financial Models and Society:
Villains or Scapegoats?
Reviewer: Lavan Mahadeva, Research Director, CRU International Ltd
Ekaterina Svetlova analyses the various patterns of the application of models in asset management, risk management and financial engineering to demonstrate that their power is far more fragile than widespread criticism would indicate. This unique and stimulating book furthers our understanding of the influence of financial models on markets and society more broadly.
The Technology Trap:
Capital, labour and power in the age of automation
Reviewer: Rosemary Connell
From the Industrial Revolution to the age of artificial intelligence, The Technology Trap takes a sweeping look at the history of technological progress and how it has radically shifted the distribution of economic and political power among society’s members.
Diary of the euro crisis in Cyprus:
Lessons for bank recovery and resolution
Reviewer: William Allen, NIESR
This book tells the story of the euro crisis in Cyprus from the inside. Written by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, Panicos Demetriades, who was in office during this turbulent period, this book shows how the crisis unravelled through a series of key events that occurred during his tenure.
Productivity and Bonus Culture
Reviewer: Dame Kate Barker
Living standards in the UK and US are in danger of falling. A decline in growth due to poor productivity and an unfavourable change in demography has weakened the stand of liberal democracy, and voter dissatisfaction is encouraging populist policies that threaten even worse outcomes. Whilst living standards once grew faster than productivity they now grow more slowly, and the working population is no longer growing faster than the population as a whole. To avoid falling living standards the productivity problem must be addressed.