Financial Stability Economic Growth And The Role Of Law

Financial crises have become an all too common occurrence over the past twenty years, largely as a result of changes in finance brought about by increasing internationalization and integration. As domestic financial systems and economies have become more interlinked, weaknesses can significantly impact not only individual economies but also markets, financial intermediaries, and economies around the world. This volume addresses the twin objectives of financial development in the context of financial stability and the role of law in supporting both. Financial stability (frequently seen as the avoidance of financial crisis) has become an objective of both the international financial architecture and individual economies and central banks. At the same time, financial development is now seen to play an important role in economic growth. In both financial stability and financial development, law and related institutions have a central role.

This book explores the role of law and regulation in sustaining financial markets in both developed and developing countries, particularly the European Union, United States and China. The central argument of this book is that law matters for the operation of financial markets, which, in turn, significantly influences the performance of firms, industries, and economies. The Role of Law and Regulation in Sustaining Financial Markets is divided into four parts. Part one addresses the connection between law, financial development, and economic growth. Part two deals with the role of financial regulation, which can be used to correct market failures, such as negative externalities, information asymmetries, and monopolies. Part three focuses on the design, functioning, and performance of different financial instruments. Part four examines the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility. This book contributes to the ‘law and finance’ literature by studying certain conventional issues, such as the relationship between finance and economic growth, and the effects of regulatory quality on financial development, from new perspectives and/or with new evidence, data, and cases. It also explores novel topics, such as project finance contracts, insurance and climate change, the shadow banking system, that have been overlooked in current literature. This book is meaningful not only for the EU and the US, which have suffered considerably from the financial crisis of 2008, but also for China, which is struggling to build a sound institutional infrastructure to govern its increasingly complicated financial system. By comparing the regulatory philosophies and practices of the EU, the US and China, this book will help the reader to understand the diverse nature of the global ‘law and finance’ nexus and avoid succumbing to the myth of "one size fits all".

"Why do some countries have growth-enhancing financial systems, while others do not? Why have some countries developed the necessary investor protection laws and contract-enforcement mechanisms to support financial institutions and markets, while others have not? This paper reviews existing research on the role of legal institutions in shaping financial development"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site

South Sudan is currently facing a serious economic crisis occasioned by: i. the oil shutdown which began at the beginning of 2012; ii. the civil conflict which erupted in December 2013; iii. declining international crude oil prices which went down by almost 62% (from USD 104 per barrel in 2013 to USD 40 in 2016); iv. drastic decline in the daily oil production as a result of partial closure of Upper Nile oil fields and; v. total shutdown of Unity State oil fields as a result of the war. All these factors have a significant negative impact on the South Sudan's economy. On the other hand, South Sudan has abundant and mostly untapped natural resources. It has great agricultural potential given that the country is very fertile and blessed with land, water and mineral resource which are substantial in relation to the relatively small population of 10 million plus. Effective management and development of these resources will therefore offer the prospect of sustained strong economic growth. Hence, the key research questions for this study are: Why some countries experience sustained levels of steady economic growth much faster while others stagnate? What can to improve the role of economic and political institutions in economic performance? There is extensive evidence that institutions matter a great deal in determining the level of economic development of a country. They strongly affect the economic performance of countries and act in society at all levels by determining the frameworks in which economic exchange occurs. Many Economists have shown that differences in institutions, as deep determinants of economic growth, account for much of the differences in income and productivity per head observed between countries (Acemoglu et al., 2005 ). Institutions shape the policy and governance setting in a given country, which in turn characterize the rule of law, risk of expropriation, political stability and ease of doing business. This study ends by suggesting the most importing mechanisms to strengthen the political and economic institutions that will create public trust in the government and its institutions and lead to sustainable development and prosperity. With that in mind, the institutions should support the public and private sector, capability, social infrastructure, good governance, rules of laws in order to achieve sustainable economic growth and financial stability. In this context, the main objectives of this study is to analyze the economic and political structure in South Sudan to ensure its role in achieving sustainable Economic Development and to analyze the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies in responding to economic shocks. It is also opted to examine the structural soundness of the South Sudan economy and the efficiency of its key institutions in addressing the challenges. In particular, the role of a strong and healthy financial sector in weathering shocks and sustaining growth. In light of the above, this study focuses on the greater role institutions have played in the economic development of several East Asian countries as well as Africa. Though, it is argued that the institutions can be weaker and ineffective simply because of administrative, institutional, ethnic, social and political challenges including poor enforcement of the rule of law, corruption, mismanagement, lack of strong civil society and political interference. However, the strength of an institution determines whether a country will be poor or wealthy, whether or not its people are free or oppressed and if its people will suffer from poverty or benefit from prosperity. Therefore, the main recommendations of this study can be summarized as follows: - developing effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels; - building a variety of healthy institutions that can accelerate and spearhead growth; - building strong political and governmental institutions that enhance the governance - reforming the institutions with an aim to move from situations of stagnation to rapid growth or a better development paths; The study embraces a multi-pronged methodology, pursuing a combination of relevant methods and approaches of data collection, including both primary and secondary information sources. This study is organized as follows: Chapter 1 discusses the institutions, financial stability and sustainable Economic Development, theoretical framework in which we explore in the empirical analysis. Chapter 2 presents the historical background of institutions in South Sudan Chapter 3 focuses on institutions and financial stability where we discuss the institutional policies and approach for financial stability as well as issues of globalization, transparency, accountability and its impact on financial stability. In chapter 4, I discuss institutions and sustainable economic growth. It focuses on fundamentals and strategies of sustainable economic development and the role of good governance and institutions in long-term economic growth. In chapter 5, we discuss the prospects of strong institutions, financial stability and sustainable Economic Development in South Sudan. It discusses how efficiency and soundness of South Sudan's key institutions can be extremely valuable in process of building a sustainable economic growth and what can South Sudan learn from others countries. The last chapter is the conclusions and recommendations of research. The major findings of this study are as follows: - Conflicts affect economic outcomes mainly through the destruction of human and physical capital, shifts in public spending and private investment, as well as the disruption of economic activities and social life. - Building effective, efficient and accountable institutions in fragile state like South Sudan can be problematic and challenging. Most importantly, good political and economic governance, based on transparency and accountability, should be the key for building a politically and economically viable state capable of articulating a common vision for national unity, and providing stability and dividends of peace to its aspiring citizens. - Strictly, from economic point of view, a political resolution of the current crisis is urgently needed in order for South Sudan to restore the confident of investors, put socio-economic development as one of its priorities and regain its place as the world's newest investment destination. - Social, political and economic stability in South Sudan will depend on core institutions performing their functions sufficiently well to manage public resources effectively and distribute them equitably

Impact of a default on financial stability and economic growth : hearing before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, first session, on discussing the financial markets and potential economic impacts of a default if the statutory debt limit is not raised and the Treasury is unable to fulfill the financial obligations of t

Why have financial standards and institutions almost always failed to effectively predict and respond to real-world financial crises? The answer, this challenging book shows, is that international financial law suffers from a persistent lack of judicial or quasi-judicial enforcement mechanisms, leaving flaws in the structure of the international financial system that lead inevitably to excesses that threaten the public good of global financial stability. The author, an internationally renowned legal expert on financial and fiscal reforms, responds to the increasingly urgent call for rethinking the structure and the functioning of international financial law. Centering on the concept of enforcement – which continues to be an unresolved issue in the discipline of international financial law – the analysis describes the likely contours of hard-law regulatory reform. It weighs the pros and cons of much-talked-about regulatory and policy issues like the following and more: – policy implications from the transformation of finance from a domestic to an international concept; – new or revised supervisory and regulatory bodies with redefined mandate, jurisdictions and powers; – possibility of a treaty-based structure similar to the European Union’s integration framework; and – consolidation of crisis-prevention and crisis-management policies; The analysis takes into account instances from trade and monetary systems pertinent to the development of the discipline of international financial law. A concluding chapter explores possibilities for putting in place an asset-backed resilient financial system based on risk-sharing and empowered to legislate reform and authorized to seek compliance from its members. With its provision of unconventional alternatives for further development of international financial law to realize stable, predictable and robust international markets – including early-warning systems and fully primed crisis-prevention mechanisms – the book explores the essential link between global financial stability, effective regulation and institutional development that will engender realistic global policy solutions. It will prove to be of great importance to regulatory and legal practitioners as well as to academic and think-tank scholars.

After 2008, private-sector spending took a decade to recover. Yair Listokin thinks we can respond more quickly to the next meltdown by reviving and refashioning a policy approach, used in the New Deal, to harness law’s ability to function as a macroeconomic tool, stimulating or relieving demand as required under certain crisis conditions.

Should monetary policy use its short-term policy rate to stabilize the growth in household credit and housing prices with the aim of promoting financial stability? We ask this question for the case of Canada. We find that to a first approximation, the answer is no— especially when the economy is slowing down.