In July 2007, the then chief executive of Citigroup, Charles Prince, captured the hubris of a market dangerously addicted to debt: “When the music stops, in terms of liquidity, things will be complicated. But as long as music is playing, you have got to get up and dance. We're still dancing.” By the end of the year, Mr Prince was forced to resign along with some of the most influential bankers on Wall Street. Global investment houses in the United States and Europe were forced to turn to sovereign wealth funds for emergency funding. Their rescue comes at a significant material and reputational price.This book investigates the origins and implications of the securitization crisis, described by the chief executive of ANZ as a “financial services bloodbath”. Based on extensive interviews, it offers an integrated series of case studies drawn from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. A central purpose is to not only chart what went wrong within the investment houses and why the regulatory systems failed, but also provide policy guidance. The book therefore combines the empirical with the normative. In so doing, it provides a route map to navigate one of the most significant financial and regulatory failures in modern times./a
This book incorporates a selection of eight revised papers presented at the Conference on "Managing Economic Crisis in Southeast Asia", organized jointly by the Saw Centre for Financial Studies, NUS Business School and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, in January 2010. The chapters deal with the management of the 2008-09 economic crisis in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the region as a whole. They represent an analysis of the impact of the economic crisis and the stimulus packages that were swiftly put in place by the governments to mitigate the economic recession and to pave the way for a quick recovery. The success of the monetary and fiscal policy measures in engendering a strong economic recovery in these countries is also discussed in considerable depth. The book, with contributions from experts on the topics covered, will be extremely valuable to businessmen, analysts, academics, students, policy-makers and the general public interested in seeking a greater understanding of the sub-prime crisis that led to the global economic recession.
Society needs whistleblowers, yet to speak up and expose wrongdoing often results in professional and personal ruin. Kate Kenny draws on the stories of whistleblowers to explain why this is, and what must be done to protect those who have the courage to expose the truth. Despite their substantial contribution to society, whistleblowers are considered martyrs more than heroes. When people expose serious wrongdoing in their organizations, they are often punished or ignored. Many end up isolated by colleagues, their professional careers destroyed. The financial industry, rife with scandals, is the focus of Kate Kenny’s penetrating global study. Introducing whistleblowers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Ireland working at companies like Wachovia, Halifax Bank of Scotland, and Countrywide–Bank of America, Whistleblowing suggests practices that would make it less perilous to hold the powerful to account and would leave us all better off. Kenny interviewed the men and women who reported unethical and illegal conduct at major corporations in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis. Many were compliance officers working in influential organizations that claimed to follow the rules. Using the concept of affective recognition to explain how the norms at work powerfully influence our understandings of right and wrong, she reframes whistleblowing as a collective phenomenon, not just a personal choice but a vital public service.
Addresses the power of oligopolistic corporations in contemporary society. The largest, wealthiest corporations have gained unprecedented power and influence in contemporary life. From cradle to grave the decisions made by these entities have an enormous impact on how we live and work, what we eat, our physical and psychological health, what we know or believe, whom we elect, and how we deal with one another and with the natural world around us. At the same time, government seems ever more subservient to the power of these oligopolies, providing numerous forms of corporate welfaretax breaks, subsidies, guarantees, and bailoutswhile neglecting the most basic needs of the population. In Corporate Power, Oligopolies, and the Crisis of the State, Luis Suarez-Villa employs a multidisciplinary perspective to provide unprecedented documentation of a growing crisis of governance, marked by a massive transfer of risk from the private sector to the state, skyrocketing debt, great inequality and economic insecurity, along with an alignment of the interests of politicians and a new, minuscule but immensely wealthy and influential corporate elite. Thanks to this dysfunctional environment, Suarez-Villa argues, stagnation and a vanishing public trust have become the hallmarks of our time. This book makes a substantial contribution to the literature, particularly to the field of political economy. It is unique and much needed for the way it draws links between a wide and diverse range of social, economic, and political phenomena through a sophisticated and powerful theoretical analysis. Luis Suarez-Villa manages to paint the big picture while touching upon detailed developments in numerous fieldsnot unlike the great political economists of the nineteenth century. Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power
How can power over others be transformed to ‘power with’? It is possible to transform many institutions to build societies with less predation and more freedom. These stretch from families and institutions of gender to the United Nations. Some societies, times and places have crime rates a hundred times higher than others. Some police forces kill at a hundred times the rate of others. Some criminal corporations kill thousands more than others. Micro variables fail to explain these patterns. Prevention principles for that challenge are macrocriminological. Freedom is conceived in a republican way as non-domination. Tempering domination prevents crime; crime prevention reduces domination. Many believe a high crime rate is a price of freedom. Not Braithwaite. His principles of crime control are to build freedom, temper power, lift people from poverty and reduce all forms of domination. Freedom requires a more just normative order. It requires cascading of peace by social movements for non-violence and non-domination. Periods of war, domination and anomie cascade with long lags to elevated crime, violence, inter-generational self-violence and ecocide. Cybercrime today poses risks of anomic nuclear wars. Braithwaite’s proposals refine some of criminology’s central theories and sharpen their relevance to all varieties of freedom. They can be reduced to one sentence. Strengthen freedom to prevent crime, prevent crime to strengthen freedom. ‘A true magnum opus, Macrocriminology and Freedom is a thought provoking and generative book from one of criminology’s intellectual giants. John Braithwaite reaches far and wide across societies, time, and disciplines to advance no less than a theory of how to build a society that simultaneously reduces both domination and crime. His ambitious ideas on cascades of non-dominating collective efficacy and crime prevention, for example, and their connections to social movements and political freedom, go well beyond usual criminological discourse. Chock full of theoretical propositions and bold insights, this a book that will keep criminologists busy for years. Macrocriminology and Freedom should not just be read, but better yet, savoured.’ – Robert J. Sampson, Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University ‘In this majestic theorisation of the relationship between crime and freedom John Braithwaite isolates the unique power of macrocriminology as a lens through which to comprehend and challenge many of the fundamental crises facing our planet. Very few scholars have the breadth and overview to succeed in a mission of this order … Braithwaite does. This extraordinary book is an object lesson for all who seek to understand and resist domination and the crimes of power that flow from it.’ – Penny Green, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London ‘For over 40 years, John Braithwaite has been a voice of wisdom, hope and humanity in criminology. This dazzling new book weaves together all the main themes of his influential work, reanimating many of the core concepts of the discipline, as well as incorporating interdisciplinary resources from south and north, east and west, to produce an elegant and ambitious explanatory and normative account of crime as freedom-threatening domination. Decentring criminal justice as the solution to crime, Braithwaite shows that, on a global scale, the aspiration to tackle crimes, ranging from interpersonal violence through corporate crimes to ecocide, lies in the development of freedom-enhancing, power-tempering institutions in the political, economic and social spheres.’ – Nicola Lacey, Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy, London School of Economics ‘Macrocriminology and Freedom is a criminological epic, an expansive and erudite story that sweeps across history and contexts. The book is frightening in showing how cascading events can produce catastrophes from crime to environmental destruction. But in the end, its message is hopeful, identifying pathways—or “normative rivers”—for guiding freedom from domination and crime. Drawing on his distinguished career, John Braithwaite has bestowed an extraordinary gift—a book, like other masterpieces, that will yield special insights each time we take an excursion through its pages.’ – Francis T. Cullen, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati ‘In this engaging book John Braithwaite reinvigorates discussions about crime and its control. While advocating a macro approach, the book is punctuated not only with insights and data from smaller-scale studies conducted in a range of jurisdictions, but also with auto-biographical vignettes. The effect creates a deeply personal account of the perils of state, non-state and market violence and authoritarianism and the potential and indeed duty, of criminologists to work towards their reduction, by refocusing their efforts on explaining and tackling crime in its myriad of forms.’ – Mary Bosworth, Professor of Criminology, University of Oxford and Monash University ‘John Braithwaite has had a unique influence on criminology globally. In this encyclopaedic text he synthesises a wealth of criminological knowledge, particularly in the sphere of anomie theory, into broader debates about the nature of domination and freedom in contemporary society. He defends the relevance of criminological theory, while urging criminology to be activist rather than reactive and technocratic, counter-hegemonic rather than neutral. Not for the first time, John Braithwaite has challenged criminologists to construct theories that cut across micro and macro structures. This book will stir debate. It deserves a broad readership.’ – Harry Blagg, Professor of Criminology, University of Western Australia
The global financial crisis of 2007–2008 was both an economic catastrophe and a watershed event in world politics. In American Power after the Financial Crisis, Jonathan Kirshner explains how the crisis altered the international balance of power, affecting the patterns and pulse of world politics. The crisis, Kirshner argues, brought about an end to what he identifies as the "second postwar American order" because it undermined the legitimacy of the economic ideas that underpinned that order—especially those that encouraged and even insisted upon uninhibited financial deregulation. The crisis also accelerated two existing trends: the relative erosion of the power and political influence of the United States and the increased political influence of other states, most notably, but not exclusively, China.Looking ahead, Kirshner anticipates a "New Heterogeneity" in thinking about how best to manage domestic and international money and finance. These divergences—such as varying assessments of and reactions to newly visible vulnerabilities in the American economy and changing attitudes about the long-term appeal of the dollar—will offer a bold challenge to the United States and its essentially unchanged disposition toward financial policy and regulation. This New Heterogeneity will contribute to greater discord among nations about how best to manage the global economy. A provocative look at how the 2007–2008 economic collapse diminished U.S. dominance in world politics, American Power after the Financial Crisis suggests that the most significant and lasting impact of the crisis and the Great Recession will be the inability of the United States to enforce its political and economic priorities on an increasingly recalcitrant world.
We live in a visual age. Images and visual artefacts shape international events and our understanding of them. Photographs, film and television influence how we view and approach phenomena as diverse as war, diplomacy, financial crises and election campaigns. Other visual fields, from art and cartoons to maps, monuments and videogames, frame how politics is perceived and enacted. Drones, satellites and surveillance cameras watch us around the clock and deliver images that are then put to political use. Add to this that new technologies now allow for a rapid distribution of still and moving images around the world. Digital media platforms, such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, play an important role across the political spectrum, from terrorist recruitment drives to social justice campaigns. This book offers the first comprehensive engagement with visual global politics. Written by leading experts in numerous scholarly disciplines and presented in accessible and engaging language, Visual Global Politics is a one-stop source for students, scholars and practitioners interested in understanding the crucial and persistent role of images in today’s world.
This volume explores the sources and manifestations of political violence in South and Southeast Asia and the myriad roles that it plays in everyday life and as part of historical narrative. It considers and critiques the manner in which political violence is understood and constructed, and the common assumptions that prevail regarding the causes, victims, and perpetrators of this violence. By focusing on the social and political context of these regions, the book presents a critical understanding of the nature of political violence and provides an alternative narrative to that found in mainstream analysis of terrorism. "Political Violence in South and Southeast Asia" brings together political scientists and anthropologists with intimate knowledge of the politics and society of these regions, who present unique perspectives on topics including assassinations, riots, state violence, the significance of geographic borders, external influences and intervention, and patterns of recruitment and rebellion. Contributors include Paula Banerjee (Calcutta University and Calcutta Research Group), Vincent Boudreau (City College of New York), Paul R. Brass (University of Washington), Naureen Chowdhury Fink (International Peace Institute, New York), Natasha Hamilton-Hart (National University of Singapore), Sankaran Krishna (University of Hawaii--Manoa), Darini Rajasingham (Social Scientists Association and International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Sri Lanka), Geoffrey Robinson (UCLA), Varun Sahni (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi), Shamuel Tharu (Jawaharlal Nehru University).
The only crisis of capitalism is capitalism itself. Let's toss credit default swaps, bailouts, environmental externalities and, while we're at it, private ownership of production in the dustbin of history. The Accumulation of Freedom brings together economists, historians, theorists, and activists for a first-of-its-kind study of anarchist economics. The editors aren't trying to subvert the notion of economics—they accept the standard definition, but reject the notion that capitalism or central planning are acceptable ways to organize economic life. Contributors include Robin Hahnel, Iain McKay, Marie Trigona, Chris Spannos, Ernesto Aguilar, Uri Gordon, and more.
