What I’m reading right now on the financial meltdown
Barry Eichengreen and Richard Baldwin, “Rescuing our jobs and savings: What G7/8 leaders can do to solve the global credit crisis.” Paul Romer, “Fundamentalists Versus Realists.” Greg Mankiw, “How to Recapitalize the Financial System.” Nouriel Roubini, “Our Choice.” Zanny Minton Beddoes, Economist special report on the world economy. Max Brooks, World War Z Meanwhile, there ...
Barry Eichengreen and Richard Baldwin, "Rescuing our jobs and savings: What G7/8 leaders can do to solve the global credit crisis." Paul Romer, "Fundamentalists Versus Realists." Greg Mankiw, "How to Recapitalize the Financial System." Nouriel Roubini, "Our Choice." Zanny Minton Beddoes, Economist special report on the world economy. Max Brooks, World War Z Meanwhile, there are conflicting reports on the extent of international policy coordination on the crisis (compare this New York Times story with this Financial Times story). What genuinely puzzles me is that the G-7 governments have a pretty massive incentive to act in a coordinated fashion to restore faith in the credit markets. The BRIC countries also have a pretty strong incentive to cooperate. The puzzle is that agreement has yet to be reached. Right now I'd offer the following explanations for this: 50% due to events moving more quickly than policymakers can at this point; 15% due to many of the policymakers themselves being too unpopular or lame duck-y to have much room to maneuver; 10% due to myriad other actors too busy exulting in schadenfreude to realize that they're going to go down with the ship as well; 25% due to a lack of complete understanding of what exactly is going on. Developing.... UPDATE: Megan McArdle has further reading suggestions from... you know, the thingiess with the pages between the covers... I can't remember what they're called.
- Barry Eichengreen and Richard Baldwin, “Rescuing our jobs and savings: What G7/8 leaders can do to solve the global credit crisis.”
- Paul Romer, “Fundamentalists Versus Realists.”
- Greg Mankiw, “How to Recapitalize the Financial System.”
- Nouriel Roubini, “Our Choice.”
- Zanny Minton Beddoes, Economist special report on the world economy.
- Max Brooks, World War Z
Meanwhile, there are conflicting reports on the extent of international policy coordination on the crisis (compare this New York Times story with this Financial Times story). What genuinely puzzles me is that the G-7 governments have a pretty massive incentive to act in a coordinated fashion to restore faith in the credit markets. The BRIC countries also have a pretty strong incentive to cooperate. The puzzle is that agreement has yet to be reached. Right now I’d offer the following explanations for this:
- 50% due to events moving more quickly than policymakers can at this point;
- 15% due to many of the policymakers themselves being too unpopular or lame duck-y to have much room to maneuver;
- 10% due to myriad other actors too busy exulting in schadenfreude to realize that they’re going to go down with the ship as well;
- 25% due to a lack of complete understanding of what exactly is going on.
Developing…. UPDATE: Megan McArdle has further reading suggestions from… you know, the thingiess with the pages between the covers… I can’t remember what they’re called.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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