Add to wishlist
Off Balance weaves a compelling narrative that details the failings of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization in the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008.
Award-winning journalist and author Paul Blustein has received wide acclaim for his books about the inner workings of international economic institutions, notably the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization. In Off Balance, he weaves a compelling narrative that details the failings of such institutions in the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008.
Based on interviews with scores of policy makers and on thousands of pages of confidential documents to which Blustein obtained exclusive access, the book focusses mainly on the IMF and the Financial Stability Forum in the run-up to and early months of the crisis. Blustein exposes serious weaknesses in these and other institutions, which lead to sobering conclusions about the governability of the global economy.
Contents
List of Acronyms vii
Author’s Note and Acknowledgements ix
1 Ungovernable? 1
2 The Hegemon Cometh: A Concise History of the Global Financial
System’s Governing Institutions 13
3 Concise History, Continued: New Players, New Institutions, New Rules,
New Worries 33
4 A Flop and a Debacle 51
5 Fundamental Misalignment and Its Discontents 67
6 Global Watchdogs, Missing a World of Trouble 93
7 Cluelessness: A Matter of Degree 115
8 The Worsening of the Worst Case 127
9 Still Wanting 145
Description
Off Balance weaves a compelling narrative that details the failings of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization in the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008.
Award-winning journalist and author Paul Blustein has received wide acclaim for his books about the inner workings of international economic institutions, notably the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization. In Off Balance, he weaves a compelling narrative that details the failings of such institutions in the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008.
Based on interviews with scores of policy makers and on thousands of pages of confidential documents to which Blustein obtained exclusive access, the book focusses mainly on the IMF and the Financial Stability Forum in the run-up to and early months of the crisis. Blustein exposes serious weaknesses in these and other institutions, which lead to sobering conclusions about the governability of the global economy.
