Over the past eight years, a number of serious financial crises have affected economies, businesses and, most importantly, the living conditions of millions of people, particularly in the developing regions. As it turns out, the globalisation of financial markets during the 1990s not only increased the opportunities for prosperity and growth in developing countries, but also the risk of misery and recession. Crisis prevention has therefore become a priority issue for policymakers and analysts around the world.

This book first focuses on new strategies for dealing with the inherent instability of financial markets. It then looks at the ways in which financial markets work and the implications for more effective supervision. The third part of the book deals with the Asian, Latin American and Central European responses to the instability of financial markets. And in the fourth part there is a discussion of gaps in the international institutional framework.

The prominent international experts who have contributed to this book discuss a variety of key policy issues that range from the prevention of excessive surges of capital inflows to the lack of global economic governance.