Financial Crises and What to Do About Them

Financial Crises: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses, edited by Stijn Claessens, M. Ayhan Kose, Luc Laeven, Fabián Valencia, provides a comprehensive overview of research into financial crises and policy lessons learned. 

The book covers a wide range of crises, including banking, balance of payments, and sovereign debt crises. It begins with an overview of the various types of crises and introduces a comprehensive database of crises. 

Broad lessons on crisis prevention and management, as well as the short-term economic effects of crises, recessions, and recoveries are discussed. 

The medium-term effects of financial crises on economic growth, as well as policy measures to prevent booms, mitigate busts, and avoid crises are analyzed. Finally, policy measures for mitigating the adverse impact of crises and ways to restructure banks, households, and sovereigns are presented. 

The collection of research in this book provides an excellent overview of critical policy areas, with valuable lessons on how countries can better monitor their economies and financial systems. Read a blog by Stijn Claessens on the issue.

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RePEc -- Understanding Financial Crises

New Books on China

Couple of good books on China from the IMF

China's Economy in Transition: 

From External to Internal Rebalancing

China’s current account surplus has declined to around one-quarter the peak reached before the global financial crisis. While this is a major reduction in China’s external imbalance, it has not been accompanied by a decisive shift toward consumption-based growth. Instead, the compression in its external surplus has been accomplished through increasing fixed investment so that it is now an even higher share of China’s national economy. 

This increasing reliance on fixed investment as the main driver of China’s growth raises questions about the durability of the compression in the external surplus and the sustainability of the current growth model that has had unprecedented success in lifting about 500 million people out of poverty over the last three decades. This volume examines various aspects of the rebalancing process underway in China, highlighting policy lessons for achieving stable, sustainable, and inclusive growth.

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China's Road to Greater Financial Stability: 

Some Policy Perspectives

China has reached a stage where further financial sector reforms appear essential. As the reform process progresses and macrofinancial linkages deepen, the preservation of financial stability will become a major policy preoccupation. China is already working toward enhancing its surveillance and monitoring capabilities and is actively determining ways to undertake a series of reforms that would lay the foundation for a strong, sustained, and balanced growth. 

"China’s Road to Economic Stability" focuses on the key financial policy issues facing China today. The volume draws upon contributions from senior Chinese authorities and academics, as well as staff from the IMF to discuss the financial policy context within China, macroeconomic factors affecting financial stability, and the critical role of financial system oversight. It seeks to improve the understanding of the financial sector policy processes underway and the shifts taking place among China’s economic priorities. 

The book also covers issues such as the financial stability framework, systemic linkages, liquidity management, risk and vulnerability analysis, and sequencing financial reforms. The book is something of a must read for academics, researchers, and stakeholders interested in China and the shifts taking place in the manner in which China views its financial sector policies and oversees the stability of the financial system.

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