In Good Times Prepare for Crisis: From the Great Depression to the Great Recession: Sovereign Debt Crises and Their Resolution

Sovereign debt crises are a recurring phenomenon that can cause significant damage to economies and personal hardship. This book explores best practices for resolving these crises, drawing lessons from recent experiences. However, preventing them remains challenging, and the debt overhang from one crisis contributes to the next.

Format: Hardback
Length: 552 pages
Publication date: 30 August 2018
Publisher: Brookings Institution

Sovereign debt crises are like the weather: they can be prepared for and mitigated, but they cannot be prevented. This book, written by a former World Bank expert on debt crises, explores the major debt crises of the past century, from the Great Depression to the recent Great Recession. It discusses best practices for resolving these crises, which have caused significant damage to economies and personal hardship. Resolving debt crises has proven difficult, both economically and politically, and has required a lender of last resort, such as a country's central bank or the International Monetary Fund. Too often, efforts to end debt crises have been little more than a palliative, and the debt overhang from one crisis contributes to the next, as illustrated by the ongoing saga in Greece. Both private and sovereign debts have increased substantially since the 2008 crisis, with inadequate deleveraging leaving countries vulnerable and with limited maneuverability to address the next crisis. This book does not pretend to describe how debt crises can be prevented, but it does draw useful lessons from recent crises that can help economists, bankers, policymakers, and others resolve the inevitable future crises with the least possible damage.

Weight: 824g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780815735342