A remarkable feature of the period since 1970 has been the patterns of rapid and turbulent change in financing behavior and financial structure in many advanced countries. This book explores, in theoretical and empirical terms, the nature of the relationships between the underlying phenomena--levels and changes in debt, vulnerability to default in the corporate and household sectors, and systematic risk in the financial sector. The book focuses on the generality of this phenomena--whether similar patterns are observable in certain countries, as well as in the international capital markets...

Coping with the aging of the population without economic disruption is undoubtedly one of the major challenges facing the global economy and world financial markets both now and for the coming decades. In this context, this book assesses the major economic issues raised by occupational pension funds, as they have arisen in 12 OECD countries; the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, as well as in Chile and Singapore. Particular emphasis is placed on the performance of funds in financial markets, the influence on funds...

Synopsis: The ongoing global financial crisis was not simply the fault of the financial sector. Bankers, households, and governments had all entered a spiral of greed, selfishness, and impatience in pursuit of their respective aims of higher remuneration, greater consumption, and enhanced popularity. The outcome, besides costly bank bailouts, has been rising private and public debt and stagnant economies. Economics, the ruling paradigm in today's society, can explain their motivation of self-interest but not the underlying irrationality of their behavior. Taking a view from Scripture, Philip...