"The Chinese economy appears destined for failure, the financial bubble forever in peril of popping, the real estate sector doomed to collapse, the factories fated for bankruptcy. Banks drowning in bad loans. An urban landscape littered with ghost towns of empty property. Industrial zones...

Why are there so many crises in the world? Is it true that the global system is today riskier and more dangerous than in past decades? Do we have any tools at our disposal to bring these problems under control, to reduce the global system's proneness to instability? These are the tantalizing...

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...