When Robert Z. Aliber's The International Money Game first appeared in 1973, it was widely acclaimed as the best - and the most entertaining - introduction to the arcane mysteries of international finance. The 7th edition of this classic work has been fully re-written to recognize the immense changes in the global economy in the last thirty five years. There have been four waves of financial crises; each wave has involved the failures of banks and other financial institutions in three, four, or more countries. Each wave of crises has been preceded by a wave of credit bubbles, which has involved the increase in the indebtedness of a group of borrowers at rates in the range of twenty to thirty percent a year for three or four or more years. These bubbles are related to global imbalances. A substantive preface surveys these major changes since the first edition. As in previous editions, Aliber's aim is not just to be topical. His witty, perceptive, and authoritative book focuses on fundamentals, on 'how the pieces fit'. Aliber provides an indispensable and highly readable guide to the complex and increasingly fragile arrangement for financing the world's business.
Introduction A System is How the Pieces Fit The Name of the Game is Money PART I INTERNATIONAL MONETARY ARRANGEMENTS, MONEY, AND POLITICS Gold - How Much Is a 'Barbarous Relic' Worth? The Gnomes of Zurich Play in the Largest Market in the World 'The Greatest Monetary Agreement in History' Radio Luxembourg and the Eurodollar Market are both Offshore Stations The Dollar and Coco-Cola are both Brand Names They Invented Money So They Could Have Inflation Global Imbalances and the Persistent US Trade Deficit Five Asset Price Bubbles in Thirty Years- A New World Record Another World Record-Four Financial Crises in Twenty Five Years Central Bankers Read Election Returns, Not Balance Sheets Monetary Reform-Where Do the Problems Go When They're Assumed Away? PART II THE COST OF 100 NATIONAL MONIES Globalization 1.0 - The Silk Road to Asia and the Salt Caravans Across the Sahara Taxation, Regulation, and the Level Playing Field Banking on the Wire The Reverend Thomas Malthus, the OPEC Cartel, and the Price of Energy from 1800 to 2100 The World Market for Bonds and Stocks MBSs, ABSs, CMOs, CDOs, Zeros, Swaps, Options, and Credit Default Swaps-The Revolution in Finance Why Are Multinational Firms Mostly American? Japan-The First Superstate China-The Eight Hundred Pound Gorilla From Marxist Command Economies to Market Capitalism Fitting the Pieces Once Again Index