Explaining Monetary And Financial Innovation

This book discusses theories of monetary and financial innovation and applies them to key monetary and financial innovations in history – starting with the use of silver bars in Mesopotamia and ending with the emergence of the Eurodollar market in London. The key monetary innovations are coinage (Asia minor, China, India), the payment of interest on loans, the bill of exchange and deposit banking (Venice, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London). The main financial innovation is the emergence of bond markets (also starting in Venice). Episodes of innovation are contrasted with relatively stagnant environments (the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire). The comparisons suggest that small, open and competing jurisdictions have been more innovative than large empires – as has been suggested by David Hume in 1742.

Financial innovation can drive social, economic, and environmental change, transforming ideas into new technologies, industries, and jobs. But when it is misunderstood or mismanaged, the consequences can be severe. In this practical, accessible book, two leading experts explain how sophisticated capital structures can enable companies and individuals to raise funding in larger amounts for longer terms and at lower cost—accomplishing tasks that would otherwise be impossible. The authors recount the history and basic principles of financial innovation, showing how new instruments have evolved, and how they have been used and misused. They thoroughly demystify complex capital structures, offering a practical toolbox for entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and policymakers. Financing the Future presents clear, thorough discussions of the current role of financial innovation in capitalizing businesses, industries, breakthrough technologies, housing solutions, medical treatments, and environmental projects. It also presents a full chapter of lessons learned: essential insights for stabilizing the economy and avoiding pitfalls. Distinguishing genuine innovation from dangerous copycats Crafting sustainable financial innovations that add value and manage risk The best tools for the job: choosing them, customizing them, using them Selecting the right instruments and structures, and making the most of them Financial innovations for business, housing, and medical research Finding new and better ways to promote entrepreneurship and advance social goals Innovating to save the planet and help humanity The power of finance to protect natural resources and alleviate global poverty This is the first in a new series of books on financial innovation, published through a collaboration between Wharton School Publishing and the Milken Institute. Future titles will focus on specific policy areas such as housing and medical research. The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank whose mission is to improve the lives and economic conditions of diverse populations in the United States and around the world by helping business and public policy leaders identify and implement innovative ideas for creating broad-based prosperity. It puts research to work with the goal of revitalizing regions and finding new ways to generate capital for people with original ideas.

Discusses the technological change and financial innovation that commercial banking has experienced during the past 25 years. Describes the role of the financial system in economies and how technological change and financial innovation can improve social welfare. Surveys the literature relating to several specific financial innovations, which are new products or services, production processes, or organizational forms. The past quarter century has been a period of substantial change in terms of banking products, services, and production technologies. Moreover, while much effort has been devoted to understanding the characteristics of users and adopters of financial innovations, we still know little about how and why financial innovations are initially developed.

Sustainable, responsible financial innovation: lessons from the crisis, and new paths to global prosperity After the global financial crisis, responsible financial innovation is more crucial than ever. However, financial innovation will only succeed if it reflects the true lessons of the past decade. In this collection, three leading global finance researchers share those lessons, offering crucial insights for market participants, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Drawing on their pioneering work, they illuminate new opportunities for sustainable innovation in finance that can help restore housing markets and the overall global economy, while avoiding the failures of predecessors. In Financing the Future, Franklin Allen and Glenn Yago carefully discuss the current role of financial innovation in capitalizing businesses, industries, breakthrough technologies, housing solutions, medical treatments, and environmental projects. Allen and Yago explain how sophisticated capital structures can enable companies and individuals to raise funding in larger amounts for longer terms at lower cost, accomplishing tasks that would otherwise be impossible -- and offer a full chapter of essential lessons for using financial innovation to add value, manage risk, and improve the stability of the global economy. Next, in Fixing the Housing Market, Allen, Yago, and James R. Barth explain how responsible financial innovation can "reboot" damaged housing markets, improve their efficiency, and make housing more accessible to millions. The authors walk through the history of housing finance, evaluate housing finance systems in mature economies during and after the crisis, highlight benefits and risks associated with each leading mortgage funding structure and product, and assess current housing finance structures in BRIC economies. Building on these comparisons, they show how to create a more stable and sustainable financing system for housing: one that provides better shelter for more people, helps the industry recover, and creates thousands of new jobs. From world-renowned leaders and experts Franklin Allen, Glenn Yago, and James R. Barth

The analysis of original documents is a means for economists to focus on the primary text, to analyze and interpret the object and to move to interpretation and understanding of its relationship to modern financial instruments and markets. The result is a collection of interdisciplinary studies of the key innovations in finance from the Old Babylonian loan tablets, to the 1953 London Debt Agreement that span regions in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.