This timely and authoritative book, now in paperback, explains the rise and fall of economies in Asia, Central America and Europe since 1980 and discusses these crises in the context of continuing economic globalization.
This updated and fully revised edition includes a detailed account of the Mexican crisis of 1994-95, the Japanese crisis which has worsened in the late 1990s and the Asian crisis which emerged in 1997. Professor Allen discusses the impact of new uses and forms of money, and new financial flows such as electronic monies and offshore financial markets. These processes explain how the US economy has benefited from 'money-mercantilism' at the expense of other regions of the world. The author then provides a thorough taxonomy of the common patterns of recent currency crises. He formalizes a 'new political economy of money' which goes further than the conventional literature in explaining these patterns.