David Hudson - Global Finance and Development

The question of money, how to provide it, and how to acquire it where needed, is axiomatic to development. The realities of global poverty and the inequalities between the haves and the have-nots are clear and well documented, and the gaps between the worlds richest and the worlds poorest are ever-increasing. But, even though funding development is assumed to be key, the relationship between finance and development is contested and complex.

This book explores the variety of relationships between finance and development, offering a broad and critical understanding of these connections and perspectives. It breaks finance down into its various aspects, with separate chapters on aid, debt, equity, microfinance and remittances. Throughout the text, finance is presented as a double-edged sword: while it is a vital tool towards poverty reduction, helping to fund development, more critical approaches remind us of the ways in which finance can hinder development. It contains a range of case studies throughout to illustrate finance in practice, including, UK aid to India, debt in Zambia, Apples investment in China, microfinance in Mexico, government bond issues in Chile and financial crisis in East Asia. The text develops and explores a number of themes throughout, such as the relationship between public and private sources of finance and debates about direct funding versus the allocation of credit through commercial financial markets. The book also explores finance and development interactions at various levels, from the global structure of finance through to local and everyday practices.

Global Finance and Development offers a critical understanding of the nature of finance and development. This book encourages the reader to see financial processes as embedded within the broader structure of social relationships. Finance is defined and demonstrated to be money and credit, but also, crucially, the social relationships and institutions that enable the creation and distribution of credit and the consequences thereof. This valuable text is essential reading for all those concerned with poverty, inequality and development.

David Hudson is a Senior Lecturer in Political Economy. His principal research interests lie broadly in the political economy of development. More specifically he is interested in public engagement with global poverty, the international political economy of development finance and the politics of development.

Series Editor: Professor Tony Binns, University of Otago

Since it was established in 2000, the same year as the Millennium Development Goals were set by the United Nations, the Routledge Perspectives on Development series has become the pre-eminent international textbook series on key development issues. Written by leading authors in their fields, the books have been popular with academics and students working in disciplines such as anthropology, economics, geography, international relations, politics and sociology. The series has also proved to be of particular interest to those working in interdisciplinary fields, such as area studies (African, Asian and Latin American studies), development studies, environmental studies, peace and conflict studies, rural and urban studies, travel and tourism.

If you would like to submit a book proposal for the series, please contact the Series Editor, Tony Binns, on: jab@geography.otago.ac.nz

Published:

Third World Cities, 2nd edition
David W. Drakakis-Smith
HB 0415-19881X, PB 0415-198828

Rural-Urban Interactions in the Developing World
Kenneth Lynch
HB 0415-258707, PB 0415-258715

Environmental Management & Development
Chris Barrow
HB 0415-280834, PB 0415-280842

Tourism and Development
Richard Sharpley & David J. Telfer
HB 978-0-415-37144-5 PB 978-0-415-37151-3

Southeast Asian Development
Andrew McGregor
HB 978-0-415-38416-2 PB 978-0-415-38152-9

Forthcoming: