This book discusses the role of central banks and draws lessons from examining their evolution over the past two centuries.

This book reflects on the innovations that central banks have introduced since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers to improve their modes of intervention, regulation and resolution of financial markets and financial institutions. Authors from both academia and policy circles explore these innovations through four approaches: ‘Bank Capital Regulation’ examines the Basel III agreement; ‘Bank Resolution’ focuses on effective regimes for regulating and resolving ailing banks; ‘Central Banking with Collateral-Based Finance’ develops thought on the challenges that market-based finance pose for the conduct of central banking; and ‘Where Next for Central Banking’ examines the trajectory of central banking and its new, central role in sustaining capitalism.

This book charts the consequences for banking supervision of two stylized developments that over the last decade have characterized the global financial landscape: the integration of cross-sector and cross-border financial services. Both developments inevitably call for a supervisory response and the authors discuss what form and direction this should take. They also address a number of other important subjects including the new Capital Accord (Basel 2), the convergence of supervisory practices, procyclicality, financial conglomerates, deposit insurance and a brief history of the interplay between banking supervision and bank behaviour. The important practical and theoretical issues highlighted in this volume clearly demonstrate that banking supervision currently stands at a crossroads. The detailed, objective discussions of these themes and the sensible conclusions drawn will undoubtedly help policymakers to decide which path to take. The original contributions from high-level practitioners and academics from around the world will also be of great interest to commercial bankers, and academics and researchers of banking, finance and monetary economics.

Globalisation and the governance of the international financial system have arrived at the crossroads, where either a coherent level playing field for the cross-border activities of banks and multinational enterprises is settled upon, or the risk of another crisis will build up again. This book will explore the underlying problems alongside inconsistent economic and financial trends as a guide for researchers, advanced students and professionals to think about the interconnectedness of the factors involved. Readers will gain insights drawn from recent developments in economic theory and empirical research—a toolkit to help them in their future careers in economics and finance—illustrated with an analysis of the 2008 crisis and its aftermath.

ÔHasan CšmertÕs timely book reaches us during the prolonged conditions of the global great recession. By providing a thorough and detailed econometric analysis of the institutional and historical developments of the hegemonic leader of capitalism, Cšmert reveals that the simplistic monetary policy tools of the central banks of the so-called Òmodern great moderationÓ era are over, and we are now at cross-roads of a paradigmatic shift. CšmertÕs book suggests itself as one of the first leading examples of this shift.Õ Ð Erini Yeldan, Yasar University, Turkey ÔThis provocative book shows that the Federal Reserve has, in the last four decades, gradually lost influence over credit and financial markets. This argument, supported by institutional analysis and econometric tests, has two explosive implications: first, Federal Reserve policy did not cause the subprime crisis; second, central banks no longer have instruments for intervening in economies whose growth they are now expected to restore. Anyone concerned with the future of global capitalism should consider ComertÕs work as a matter of urgency.Õ Ð Gary Dymski, Leeds University Business School, UK and University of California, Riverside, US ÔPrior to the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, mainstream economists celebrated a ÒNew ConsensusÓ on monetary policy in which independent central banks were assumed able to bring about a ÒGreat ModerationÓ of low inflation and high economic growth by manipulating short-term interest rates. In this important and interesting book, Hasan Cšmert demonstrates convincingly, through institutional analysis and econometrics, that central banks lost control of the price and quantity of credit starting two decades before this celebration. He shows that central banks themselves, through their support of financial market deregulation and globalization, helped bring about both monetary policy impotence and the global crisis. ItÕs a must-read.Õ Ð James Crotty, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, there has been increasing debate over the appropriate role of central banks in mitigating economic disaster. This timely volume combines detailed historical and econometric analyses to explore the profound changes that occurred within the US financial system from the 1980s to the present, and shows how these changes have affected the US economy. Hasan Cšmert demonstrates how dramatic shifts in the financial system undermined the ability of the US Federal Reserve to control the price and quantity of credit. He identifies several key factors that facilitated this loss of control, including deregulation, rapid financial innovations, increased financial integration and a number of policy decisions implemented within the Federal Reserve itself. Through a combination of several methods, including historical and institutional analyses, descriptive statistics, simulation and econometric techniques, the author provides a well-rounded and vitally important picture of the US financial system and offers insightful policy recommendations for the future. Students, professors and policymakers with an interest in economics, finance, banking and monetary policy will no doubt find this book a fascinating and invaluable resource.