Financial Crises in Emerging Markets: An Essay on Financial Globalisation and Fragility

By Alexandre Lamfalussy

Book Overview

In this book an eminent international banking expert grapples with issues that surround the trend toward financial globalization and its potential impact on financial fragility. Does globalization entail the risk of greater financial market instability--perhaps even genuine systemic fragility--or will it lead to a smoother working of markets? How should governments, central banks, and international institutions respond to manifestations of financial fragility?

Alexandre Lamfalussy analyzes four major crisis experiences in emerging markets: Latin America in 1982-83, Mexico in 1994-95, East Asia in 1997-98, and Russia since 1998. The author finds that the build-up of short-term indebtedness and asset price bubbles were at the heart of the four crises. And in each case the exuberant behavior of lenders and investors from the developed world played a major role, while financial globalization was an aggravating factor. Lamfalussy offers a series of carefully considered policy recommendations for the future that are both pragmatic and wise.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300082304
• ISBN13: 9780300082302
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.7" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Good Read!

This slender, surprisingly thorough volume provides an insider's view of four region's storm-tossed financial crises (Latin America, '82, Mexico '94, Asia, '98 and Russia '98). Author Alexandre Lamfalussy, a key figure at the Bank for International Settlements during some of these crises, discusses the history of these events and the problems confronting crisis managers at the time. He lays out the critical background facts of each crisis and draws clear commonalties and contrasts among them. He also offers thoughtful, reasonable prescriptions for avoiding, minimizing and managing future crises. Then, he points out some little-discussed aspects of globalization in the developed world, which contributed to the crises. Though Lamfalussy's style is dense and somewhat academic, his content is worth the work. We at getAbstract recommend this book as valuable reading (and a financial lifejacket) for anyone doing business or investing in an emerging market, for corporate executives working abroad and for public policy makers worldwide.