Currency, Credit and Crisis: Central Banking in Ireland and Europe

by Patrick Honohan

Overview

The global financial crisis in 2008 brought central banking to the centre stage, prompting questions about the role of national central banks and - in Europe - of the multi-country European Central Bank. What can central banks do, and what are their limitations? How have they performed? Currency, Credit and Crisis seeks to provide a coherent perspective on the functions of a central bank in a small country by assessing the way in which Ireland's financial crisis from 2010 to 2013 was handled. Drawing on his experiences as Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland and in research and policy work at the World Bank, Patrick Honohan offers a detailed analytical narrative of the origins of the crisis and of policy makers' conduct during its most fraught moments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108481892
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/23/2019
Series:	Studies in Macroeconomic History
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.18(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.02(d)

About the Author

Patrick Honohan is Honorary Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. Currency: 1. Fixed or floating; 2. Toward the euro; 3. The euro area crisis; Part II. Credit: 4. Safe and sound banking; 5. Faults in financial services; 6. The role of the central bank; Part III. Crisis: 7. The guarantee; 8. The race to stabilize the banks; 9. The bailout; 10. Cleaning-up; Part IV. Taking Stock: 11. The European decade of bank failure; 12. The Irish economy in boom and bust; 13. Lessons learnt.

Editorial Reviews

'A fine account of these extraordinary events.' Colm McCarthy, Sunday Independent

'A valuable and very readable insight into the work of an institution so important that its independence is protected by law …' Irish Times

'Honohan’s perspective as a policy-maker in one of the worst-affected countries would be valuable in any case. But this book is especially valuable for the unfailingly analytical approach Honohan brings to what he witnessed. It will be required reading for all who wish to understand what happened in the global financial crisis, and how that crisis did not become a calamity.' Dan Hardie, Central Banking Journal

'Ireland has overcome its financial crisis with exemplary success, and Professor Honohan’s account is readable, clear and fascinating. He clearly believes that the euro area’s troubles are not yet over, and it is impossible not to agree.' William A. Allen, Society of Professional Economists

From the Publisher