Financial Crises and Recession in the Global Economy

In this incisive fifth edition of Financial Crises and Recession in the Global Economy, Roy E. Allen examines the major financial instabilities, crises, and evolutionary trends since the 1970s and through the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Providing empirical research on the relation between money and the real economy, Allen explains how key financial variables are driven more by psychological and social constructs than is commonly understood and discusses how monetary wealth transfers in the context of what he terms ‘US money mercantilism’ have favored the US dollar ‘core’ of the global system. Chapters go on to explore the continuing globalization of financial markets, including further innovations in information-processing technology, government deregulation, new uses and forms of money, and emerging financial products and markets. Allen elaborates on the political economy of financial crises and further advances his human ecology economics framework to help guide research and policymaking in the future. Explaining why large-scale financial instabilities occur and how they might be better managed and avoided, this thoroughly revised fifth edition will be an essential resource for students and scholars of international economics, macroeconomics, international finance, and international political economy. Its critical insights on how the international system continues to evolve will also help inform policymakers’ responses to financial crises.

Roy E. Allen, Professor of Economics, Saint Mary's College of California, US