The Financial Crisis Reconsidered: The Mercantilist Origin of Secular Stagnation and Boom-Bust Cycles - Hardcover

Jose Luis Oreiro Associate Professor of Economics, University of Brasilia, Brazil REVIEWER GUIDELINES At Palgrave Macmillan the peer review system is an integral part of the book submission and evaluation process. The peer review system ensures that published research is rigorous and meets the international standards set by each discipline. We engage in a collaborative refereeing process which ensures that the work submitted is evaluated and commented upon by independent experts within the relevant field(s). The feedback is then shared with the author; however, the reviewer's name is not disclosed unless specifically requested by the reviewer. With these points in mind, we would be grateful for your feedback on the project. Please feel free to structure your comments as you see fit (either as a single body of text, or as answers to some or all of the following questions), but please ensure the topics below are covered. General 1) In your own words, please provide a short outline of the project. The objective of the project is to provide a new explanation about the causes of the 2008 financial crisis in USA. According to the author the main cause of the magnitude of the bubble in the US housing market and the financial crisis that erupted after the bubble burst was the huge current account deficit of American economy that was financed, mainly, by huge capital inflows. These inflows of foreign capital produced a decrease in the long-term interest rate of safe assets in USA, inducing commercial and investment banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions to seek for bigger returns in the subprime mortgage markets. Project 2) Does this proposal offer a useful and/or original contribution to the field? Is it addressing any new/emerging areas? Yes, the proposal is an original and useful contribution for the literature about the causes of 2008 financial crisis. 3) Does it adequately engage with recent scholarship? Does it take existing scholarship forward? Yes the proposal make a good review of the literature about the causes of 2008 financial crisis, and make an important improvement in our understanding about the economic mechanisms that fuelled the bubble in the housing market and the credit expansion behind it. 4) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal? You may wish to consider structure, organization, coherence and presentation of material; scope, coverage and breadth of appeal or degree of specialization; whether there are any obvious omissions; timeliness and likely shelf-life of the research; what proportion of the work, if any, will require substantial re-working; and whether any suggested improvements fundamental to the project's success or discretionary matters which might be addressed after the project has been accepted. As regards the strengths of the project I point the original explanation for the causes of the crisis, more specifically the link between the US current account deficit, credit expansion and housing market bubble. Other strength is that the explanation offered by the author is not based on any kind of irrational behaviour by economic agents. Regarding the structure of the book I think that chapters are somewhat unbalanced in length. In fat, chapter 2 has 41 pages, chapter 3 has 18 pages and chapter 4 has 57 pages. The author may rewrite the chapters in order to have a more balances structure for the book. Another important point regards the comments about Hayek and Keynes on uncertainty and epistemology. I think that all these comments - that are presented in different sections in chapters 3 and 4 - must me transformed in a single theoretical chapter that should be read in the beginning of the book. 5) Do you feel the author/editor is suitably qualified to produce a high quality book on this topic? Yes, I think so. 6) If you are aware that the book is being considered for inclusion in a specific series, please comment on its suitability for that series. No comment. Market and Competition 7) Is this book likely to have interdisciplinary and/or international appeal? Yes I Think that this book will be of interest for economists all over the world. 8) How does this proposal compare to the main competing titles in this area in terms of quality of writing and content? As I have said, this is an original interpretation about the causes of 2008 financial crisis. Recommendation 9) Would you recommend: a) we publish this book as it stands or after minor revisions b) revising the proposal and resubmitting c) rejecting the proposal I recommend the publication of the book after the revisions suggested above. d) In the event that we proceed with publication, would you be willing to provide an endorsement of the final manuscript that could be used to publicize the book? Yes Thank you!