The Sovereign Debt Crisis: Placing a curb on growth. CEPS Paperbacks. May 2012

To ward off the threat of a worldwide depression that loomed at the end of the 2000s, governments opted to run up substantial fiscal deficits. In doing so, they sowed the seeds of the sovereign debt crisis. Saddled with often high debt burdens and modest growth prospects, developed countries’ governments must now rebalance their budgets. Doing so too rapidly, however, will choke growth. Faced with this dilemma, Japan and the United States have pursued growth policies while the euro area members are quickly trying to rebalance their budgets. This book explores the respective risks associated with these two strategies. It further investigates the consequences for the international monetary and financial system of developing countries’ public debts ceasing to be risk-free.

Time to Set Banking Regulation Right. CEPS Paperbacks. March 2012

Excessive leverage and risk-taking by large international banks were the main causes of the 2008-09 financial crisis and the ensuing sharp drop in economic activity and employment. World leaders and central bankers promised that it would not happen again and, to this end, undertook to overhaul banking regulation, first and foremost by rectifying Basel prudential rules. This study argues that the new Basel III Accord and the ensuing EU Capital Requirements Directive IV fail to correct the two main shortcomings of international prudential rules: 1) reliance on banks’ risk management models for the calculation of capital requirements and 2) the lack of accountability by supervisors. Accordingly, the authors propose the calculation of capital requirements without risk adjustment and creation of a system of mandated action by supervisors modelled on the US framework of Prompt Corrective Action (PCA). They also recommend that banks should be required to issue large amounts of debentures that are convertible into equity in order to strengthen market discipline on management and shareholders.

An Arab Springboard for EU Foreign Policy? CEPS Paperbacks. January 2012

The EU has not been perceived as reacting very rapidly or effectively to the so-called Arab Spring. Events do appear to validate the idea underpinning the European Security Strategy (ESS) and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP): only where governments guarantee to their citizens security, prosperity, freedom and equality, can peace and stability last – otherwise, people will revolt. But in practice, in its southern neighbourhood the EU has acted in precisely the opposite manner, so the Arab Spring is occurring in spite of rather than thanks to EU policy. The ENP stands at a crossroads therefore: Can a new start be made? Which instruments and, in times of austerity, which means can the EU apply to consolidate democratization? And, finally, can the EU continue to wage an ENP without addressing the hard security dimension, especially as the US seem to be withdrawing from crisis management in the region – or shall it continue to leave that to others?

Banking Business Models Monitor 2014: Europe. CEPS Paperbacks, 14 October 2014

CEPS and the International Observatory on Financial Services Cooperatives (IOFSC) at HEC Montreal have initiated an annual monitoring exercise on banking business models in the EU. Based on their balance sheet structures, 147 European banks that account for more than 80% of the industry assets were categorised in four business models. The Monitor emphasises the ownership structures and assesses the financial and economic performance, resilience and robustness, before, during and after the financial and economic crises across retail diversified-, retail focused-, investment-, and wholesale oriented banks. Inter alia, this edition of the Monitor finds that banks that engage more in traditional retail banking activities with a mix of funding sources fared well as compared to other bank models during the different phases of the crisis.

Middle India as revealed by Chetan Bhagat

The middle classes form the bulk of Indian migrants who head for Australian shores today. Yet, within Australia, general knowledge of the conditions that drive Indians’ determined search for opportunities overseas is limited to the few who have contact with international students and migrants from the sub-continent, and the skewed, melodramatic antics of Bollywood. It is my suggestion that a broader understanding of the underlying reasons that push Indians to migrate to societies like Australia can be had through readings of Chetan’s Bhagat’s four hugely popular novels: Five Point Someone, One night @the Call Center, The 3 mistakes of My life and Two States. Bhagat is a graduate of India’s famed Indian Institute of Technology and a former Non-Resident Indian investment banker who has since returned to live in Delhi. His experiences make him the perfect mouthpiece for middle India and his paperbacks depict that stratum of Indian society’s obsessions with social mobility, marriage, regional and religious divides with great sympathy and conviction. Drawing on observations made during a recent visit to India, I illustrate what an exploration of Bhagat’s paperbacks reveals about everyday, contemporary India and what it adds to Australian understandings of Indians and India today.

Butterflies.

Invita a los niños a descubrir el mundo que nos rodea. Describe las características físicas y ciclo de vida de las mariposas y se analizan varias especies. Incluye un glosario.

Bats.

Ilustrado con fotografías y con texto de fácil comprensión se invita a los niños a descubrir el mundo que nos rodea. Describe las características físicas, la alimentación y los diferentes tipos de murciélagos. Incluye un glosario.

Tree trogs.

Examina las características distintivas, ciclo de vida, la caza y la conducta de alimentación, hibernación, mecanismos de defensa de diferentes tipos de ranas de árboles. Incluye un glosario.

Fossils.

Ilustrado con fotografías y con un texto sencillo invita a los niños a descubrir el mundo de los fósiles como seres vivos que vivieron en otras épocas y que son necesarios para poder realizar el calendario de la Tierra. Incluye un glosario.

Snakes.

Con fotografías y texto de fácil comprensión se describen varias especies de serpientes, su ciclo de vida, características, y los peligros para los seres humanos. Incluye un glosario.

Fran's flower.

Con breve narrativa se explica un concepto difícil para un niño, que para obtener un buen resultado hay que emplear los medios adecuados y tener la paciencia necesaria. Una niña encuentra una maceta llena de tierra y un pequeño brote verde. Todos los días la alimenta con sus comidas favoritas, pizza, hamburguesa con queso, espagueti, galletas de chispas de chocolate, fresa y helado. Pero el brote no crece y ella lo tira. Allí, con la lluvia y el sol, la pequeña planta comienza a crecer y un día Fran tiene una gran sorpresa. También descubre que una comida apropiada para una niña no es necesariamente una comida adecuada para una flor. Para niños en edad preescolar.

Run, rabbit, run.

Conejo se esconde de algo que le tiene miedo . No es de un caballo, no se trata de una gallina, ni del tractor del granjero, ni del cerdo nuevo. Es mucho más peligroso que todos ellos y sólo hay una cosa que mantiene al conejo fuera de peligro:correr. Historia, para los más pequeños, con muchos animales de granja para identificar.

My first day at nursery.

Es el primer día de colegio. Después de que su madre le dice adiós, la niña sólo tiene un pensamiento. Quiero que venga mi mamá. Luego comienza a explorar la clase, notando que hay un servicio de te, instrumentos de música y pinturas, entre otras cosas. Al final de un día lleno de manualidades , baile, música y refrigerios, mamá vuelve, pero ahora la niña no quiere ir a casa. Historia para tranquilizar a los niños acerca de los primeros días en el colegio y descubrir cómo puede hacerse frente a lo desconocido.

The selfish crocodile.

Cada mañana un cocodrilo egoísta grita amenazando con comerse a los animales que se acerquen al río. Estos tienen miedo. Incluso los peces, renacuajos, ranas, cangrejos y langostas permanecen fuera del agua. Hasta que un día, las criaturas se despiertan por un fuerte gemido que resulta ser del egoísta cocodrilo que tiene un gran dolor, un pequeño ratón, encuentra la manera de resolver su problema. El cuento tiene un ritmo y características de la tradición oral.

The obvious elephant.

Un día, aparece un elefante en las calles de un pueblo, pero nadie ha visto uno antes y no tienen idea de lo que es. Todo el mundo intenta adivinar la identidad y la función de esta extraña bestia. El maquinista del tren lo pone de locomotora, los bomberos lo usan para luchar contra un incendio, el basurero lo emplea para tirar la basura, hasta que Un muchacho descubre cual es la identidad del extraño animal. Para niños hasta ocho años.