Book reviews
Book notes: Democratizing Money?, by Beat Weber
This is a timely book about ‘how money really works’
Book notes: EuroTragedy, by Ashoka Mody
Former International Monetary Fund insider elegantly tells story of currency that has defied economics
Book notes: Keeping at it, by Paul Volcker with Christine Harper
Volcker delivers fascinating history-laden memoir, writes Jean-Claude Trichet
Book notes: Macroprudential policy and practice, edited by Paul Mizen, Margarita Rubio and Philip Turner
Important overview of current state of thinking about macro-prudential policy, but uncertainties remain about current allocation of financial stability responsibilities
Book notes: The Fed and Lehman Brothers, by Laurence Ball
Ball claims the Fed could have lent to Lehmans, lawfully and prudently, had it chosen to do so, writes Reddell. But agreeing the Fed could have provided liquidity support does not automatically imply it should have
Book notes: The bank that lived a little, by Philip Augar
History of British commercial bank Barclays fails to address key questions, writes Michael Taylor
Book notes: The other half of macroeconomics, by Richard Koo
Richard Koo’s latest book updates his work on balance sheet recessions
Book notes: Capitalism without capital, by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake
The authors have created a compelling framework to characterise and explain the nature of intangible investments in our economies, writes Michael Reddell, but their conclusions are lacking in analysis and data
Book notes: Digital human, by Chris Skinner
Skinner provides valuable insight into challenges banks face as technology continues to permeate further into financial industry
Book notes: Till Time’s Last Sand, by David Kynaston
Kynaston allows readers to develop their own understanding of the BoE’s place within an evolving UK
Book notes: American default, by Sebastian Edwards
Edwards’ book is fascinating, well written, relating one of US’s forgotten chapters of history
Book notes: Unfinished business, by Tamim Bayoumi
Anand Sinha praises Bayoumi’s analysis of how euro crisis and US housing crash were, in fact, intertwined
Book notes: China’s Great Wall of Debt, by Dinny McMahon
McMahon is too pessimistic about the chances of China managing to get its great wall of debt under control, writes Michael Taylor, but he is undoubtedly right about the scale of the challenge
Book notes: Edge of chaos, by Dambisa Moyo
John Chown applauds Moyo’s analysis of how the current democratic framework is failing
Book notes: Unelected power by Paul Tucker
Tucker’s well-argued text sets out set of principles for those in unelected positions of power to ensure they continue to act for benefit of general public
Book notes: I do what I do, by Raghuram Rajan
This collection of speeches and commentary sheds light on how the ‘rockstar’ central banker operated, but it reveals little in the more controversial areas of Rajan’s governorship
Book notes: The paradox of vulnerability, by John Campbell and John Hall
Quality of national institutions vital to handling financial crises, say authors
Book notes: A diary of the euro crisis in Cyprus
Panicos Demetriades’s book tells the inside story of the Cypriot crisis
Book notes: Respectable banking, by Anthony Hotson
Author’s sensible goal of “respectable banking” is admirable, but recommendations would not all help to achieve this
Book notes: How global currencies work, by Barry Eichengreen, Arnaud Mehl and Livia Chiţu
A comprehensive introduction to the history of global reserve currencies
Book notes: The End of Theory, by Richard Bookstaber
Bookstaber provides an entertaining introduction to agent-based modelling
Book notes: Money in the Great Recession, by Tim Congdon
A stimulating collection of papers on the monetarist theory that had central bankers in late 2008 focused on boosting the quantity of broad money “the Great Recession would not have happened”
Book notes: The Right Balance for Banks, by William Cline
Interesting analysis of optimal capital requirements for G-Sibs, examining whether Basel III requirements can stem another financial crisis
Book notes: Hole in the Wall, by James Shepherd-Barron
Cash machines have changed how cash is managed, but is there any future for such machines in cashless world?