Overview

"From the chief economic commentator for the Financial Times, a brilliant tour d'horizon of the new global economy and its trajectory There have been many books that have sought to explain the causes and courses of the financial and economic crisis which began in 2007-8. The Shifts and the Shocks is not another detailed history of the crisis, but the most persuasive and complete account yet published of what the crisis should teach us about modern economies and economics. The book identifies the origin of the crisis in the complex interaction between globalization, hugely destabilizing global imbalances and our dangerously fragile financial system. In the eurozone, these sources of instability were multiplied by the tragically defective architecture of the monetary union. It also shows how much of the orthodoxy that shaped monetary and financial policy before the crisis occurred was complacent and wrong. In doing so, it mercilessly reveals the failures of the financial, political and intellectual elites who ran the system. The book also examines what has been done to reform the financial and monetary systems since the worst of the crisis passed. ""Are we now on a sustainable course?"" Wolf asks. ""The answer is no."" He explains with great clarity why ""further crises seem certain"" and why the management of the eurozone in particular ""guarantees a huge political crisis at some point in the future."" Wolf provides far more ambitious and comprehensive plans for reform than any currently being implemented. Written with all the intellectual command and trenchant judgment that have made Martin Wolf one of the world's most influential economic commentators, The Shifts and the Shocks matches impressive analysis with no-holds-barred criticism and persuasive prescription for a more stable future. It is a book no one with an interest in global affairs will want to neglect."

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9781469029870

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Reviews

"""The Shifts and the Shocks is a fierce indictment of the global economy and a call for radical reform...Mr Wolf's contribution is comprehensiveness and a piercing logic in piecing the disparate elements together. He weaves the macroeconomic and financial elements of the crisis, its origins and aftermath, into an all-encompassing analysis. Along the way he demolishes many of the popular explanations--such as that the mess was due to greedy bankers or to loose monetary policy--as too simplistic. The result is convincing and depressing; there are no quick fixes...An important contribution that anyone involved in economic policy ought to read."" -- ""Economist (London)"" ""The Shifts and the Shocks is an excellent survey of how we arrived at the mess we're in, and Wolf's substantive proposals at the end, especially for reform of the euro system--system-wide deposit insurance, higher inflation so that the burden of adjustment is better shared, among other reforms--are all worthy and laudable. But the gods themselves contend in vain against stupidity. What are the odds that financial reformers can do better?"" -- ""New York Review of Books"" ""[A] worthy and wise new book...A primer on the interaction between global macroeconomic forces and what Wolf dares to call 'an increasingly fragile, liberalized financial system.' And it never goes off the rational, pragmatic track toward order, fragile or not."" -- ""Forbes"" ""Building on his earlier book, Fixing Global Finance, in The Shifts and the Shocks Martin Wolf provides an insightful and timely analysis of how global imbalances, international capital flows, and economic policies have helped create a financially fragile world."" -- ""Ben Bernanke, American economist"" ""Martin Wolf is as grand and important as an economic journalist can ever become...The Shifts and the Shocks is extremely good at untangling the causes of the global financial crisis."" -- ""New York Times"" ""Martin Wolf is unsurpassed in the world of economic journalists. His superb book may be the best of all those spawned by the Great Recession. It is analytical and rigorous and without ever succumbing to fatalism or complacency. It should be read by anyone concerned with macroeconomic or financial policy going forward."" -- ""Lawrence Summers, president emeritus, Harvard University"" ""Profound, disturbing, and prophetic...[Wolf's] analysis is rigorous and deals fairly with opposing points of view. As a result, the proposals he presents for future action merit very close consideration."" -- ""Irish Examiner (UK)"""

The Shifts and the Shocks is a fierce indictment of the global economy and a call for radical reform...Mr Wolf's contribution is comprehensiveness and a piercing logic in piecing the disparate elements together. He weaves the macroeconomic and financial elements of the crisis, its origins and aftermath, into an all-encompassing analysis. Along the way he demolishes many of the popular explanations--such as that the mess was due to greedy bankers or to loose monetary policy--as too simplistic. The result is convincing and depressing; there are no quick fixes...An important contribution that anyone involved in economic policy ought to read. -- Economist (London) The Shifts and the Shocks is an excellent survey of how we arrived at the mess we're in, and Wolf's substantive proposals at the end, especially for reform of the euro system--system-wide deposit insurance, higher inflation so that the burden of adjustment is better shared, among other reforms--are all worthy and laudable. But the gods themselves contend in vain against stupidity. What are the odds that financial reformers can do better? -- New York Review of Books [A] worthy and wise new book...A primer on the interaction between global macroeconomic forces and what Wolf dares to call 'an increasingly fragile, liberalized financial system.' And it never goes off the rational, pragmatic track toward order, fragile or not. -- Forbes Building on his earlier book, Fixing Global Finance, in The Shifts and the Shocks Martin Wolf provides an insightful and timely analysis of how global imbalances, international capital flows, and economic policies have helped create a financially fragile world. -- Ben Bernanke, American economist Martin Wolf is as grand and important as an economic journalist can ever become...The Shifts and the Shocks is extremely good at untangling the causes of the global financial crisis. -- New York Times Martin Wolf is unsurpassed in the world of economic journalists. His superb book may be the best of all those spawned by the Great Recession. It is analytical and rigorous and without ever succumbing to fatalism or complacency. It should be read by anyone concerned with macroeconomic or financial policy going forward. -- Lawrence Summers, president emeritus, Harvard University Profound, disturbing, and prophetic...[Wolf's] analysis is rigorous and deals fairly with opposing points of view. As a result, the proposals he presents for future action merit very close consideration. -- Irish Examiner (UK)

Author Information

Martin Wolf is the associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, London. He is the recipient of many awards for financial journalism, for which he was also made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2000. His previous books include Fixing Global Finance and Why Globalization Works. Since beginning his narrating career in 1996, Lloyd James (also known as Sean Pratt) has been credited with more than 600 audiobooks. He has earned several awards, including six Audiofile Earphones Awards and two nominations for the Audie Award. His performances include Once There Was a War by John Steinbeck, Encounters with Jesus and Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller, and Elvis in the Morning by William F. Buckley Jr. He lives in Maryland with his wife and their children.

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