Book details

This extremely topical book from the well-known economist John Calverley is the first to meticulously examine the financial fallout of 2008, in addition to exploring the implications and solutions for individuals, companies and central banks. His previous book, Bubbles and How to Survive Them, predicted the current financial situation. Calverley's new book is about understanding the current financial situation, how policy impinges on it, what investors can do and forecasts for the future.

This readable, non-technical guide is essential reading for everyone and particularly for investment professionals everywhere.

In this new book--an investor's survival kit--he:
* Outlines the crises we now face and reviews how we got here.
* Looks closely at the huge housing bubbles in UK and the U. S., as well as those in
Australia, Spain, Japan and Hong Kong.
* Explores the anatomy of bubbles and presents a checklist for identifying them.
* Tells the story of how the housing bubble led to the current financial crisis and
how far prices might fall, focusing on household debt as the value of household
assets collapse.
* Examines strategies for investors, who must try to avoid bubbles or, more dangerously,
seek them out and ride them.
* Reveals what will happen next.

In his original book, Bubbles and How to Survive Them (Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2004), John Calverley warned vigorously of the danger from the housing bubble and predicted that stock prices might take off again and reach vulnerable levels (as indeed occurred in 2006-7).

"Indispensable for everyone, investors and students alike, who wants to understand how bubbles arise--and avoid being caught out by the next one."
--Roger Bootle, Capital Economics

"Provides a very thoughtful and incisive look at 'bubbles and busts'...the analysis and content is extremely helpful to understanding the developments over the past few decades and the risks in the current situation."
--Dr. Henry Kaufman, President of Henry Kaufman and Company Inc

Contents

Foreword
Preface
Introduction: Why Bubbles Matter

Part I: Bubble and Bust
1 An Anatomy of Bubbles
2 The Great Depression
3 Japan and the Specter of Deflation
4 The Greenspan Bubble and Reflation

Part II: Housing: The Next Crash?
5 The Worldwide Boom
6 Britain Nears the Top
7 A US Bubble?
8 Household Debt and Monetary Policy

Part III: Origins and Solutions
9 The Pathology of Bubbles
10 Valuing Markets Sensibly
11 New Policy Approaches
12 Strategies for Investors

Final Thoughts: Living with Bubbles
Notes
Index