Book reviews
Book notes: Shadow banking in China, by Andrew Sheng and Ng Chow Soon
The authors dispel many myths about shadow banking in China – but may underestimate future risks, writes Michael Taylor
Book notes: On central banking, by Jan Qvigstad
Qvigstad’s collection of lectures captures not just the culture of Norwegian central banking, but also an intellectual history of which the country can be proud
Book notes: The curse of cash, by Kenneth S Rogoff
A well-written book and sincerely argued, but it is based on weak economic analysis and inadequate economic and political history
Book notes: Achieving financial stability and growth in Africa, edited by Stephany Griffith-Jones and Ricardo Gottschalk
John Chown praises this comprehensive review that studies the possibility of achieving ‘the impossible’ in low-income Africa – both growth and financial stability
Book notes: Connectedness and contagion, by Hal Scott
Scott’s argument on the dangers of contagion has many appealing features, although he may be too eager to hand powers to unelected officials, writes Michael Reddell
Book notes: And the weak suffer what they must?, by Yanis Varoufakis
A book that is likely to elicit strong opinions – but Varoufakis writes persuasively, and may well win over many of his readers, says David Mayes
Book notes: The power of a single number, by Philipp Lepenies
Lepenies offers a brief but very readable treatment of GDP's political history, drawing out some important lessons in the process
Book notes: Priests of prosperity: how central bankers transformed the postcommunist world
Juliet Johnson has produced an interesting account of how central banks in former communist regimes were developed at a time when they had little or no experience of modern financial systems
Book notes: The euro and the battle of ideas, by Markus K Brunnermeier, Harold James and Jean-Pierre Landau
The authors have produced a fascinating and informative book that offers suggestions on how differences in beliefs can be overcome
Book notes: A few hares to chase, by Alan Bollard
The former Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor has produced a interesting account of the life of engineer-turned-economist Bill Phillips
Book notes: The power and independence of the Federal Reserve, by Peter Conti-Brown
Conti-Brown offers a call to action to fix the legitimacy of the Federal Reserve System, which is looking increasingly dated
Book notes: Lehman Brothers: a crisis of value, by Oonagh McDonald
McDonald's book offers a useful synopsis of the multiple failings at Lehman Brothers running up to 2008, but ultimately fails to add significantly to what was already known
Book notes: Bretton Woods: the next 70 years
The Bretton Woods Committee has assembled a large number of distinguished authors for this volume, but ultimately the book ends up long on problems and short on solutions
Book notes: The end of alchemy, by Mervyn King
King’s book on how to fix everything that is wrong with the financial and economic system lays out radical proposals that deserve serious consideration
Book notes: Stabilising capitalism: a greater role for central banks, by Pierluigi Ciocca
Pierluigi Ciocca offers an excellent, brief and crisp account of the main issues facing central banks today
Book notes: Between debt and the devil, by Adair Turner
Adair Turner offers a lively and well-structured account of his proposals to radically overhaul the financial sector
Book notes: Debtonator, by Andrew McNally
A lucid book questioning society’s bias towards debt and against equity
Book notes: Phishing for phools, by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller
The veteran economists’ study of the traps markets create for unwitting consumers ultimately ends up doing exactly what the authors caution against
Book notes: Civic Capitalism, by Colin Hay and Anthony Payne
A book that espouses redesigning capitalism into 'civic capitalism'
Book notes: The challenge of economic rebalancing in Europe, perspectives for CESEE countries, edited by Ewald Nowotny et al
A useful book on the failure of the European economy to recover from the 2008 recession, and the slowing down of the convergence of central and eastern European economies with the core of the EU
Book notes: Banking Reform in Nigeria, by Yomi Makanjuola
A gripping read, starting with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi's leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009
Book notes: The Great Divide, by Joseph E Stiglitz
Stiglitz’s new book argues that deregulation was an important cause of the recent banking crisis
Book notes: Efficiently Inefficient: How Smart Money Invests and Market Prices are Determined, by Lasse Heje Pedersen
A book that offers a condensed picture of hedge funds’ operations and strategies, written by a person with considerable academic and practical experience