Since July 2007 the world economy has experienced a severe financial crisis originating in the U.S. housing market. The crisis has subsequently spread to the financial sectors in European and Asian economies and led to a severe worldwide recession. The existing literature on financial crises...

1. The rapidly changing world economy -- 2. The great recession -- 3. Global finance and payments imbalances -- 4. The role of monetary policy -- 5. The post-crisis world -- 6. China's prospects and challenges -- 7. The US external position -- 8. The redback, the greenback and the troubled euro...