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Financial globalization and global imbalances are two facets of the same phenomenon, which has resulted in the worst global economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the complex interaction of several mutually reinforcing trends and factors – the global monetary easing of 2001‐2004, financial innovation, regulatory failure, in particular in the USA and the UK, US fiscal indiscipline and Chinese currency manipulation – that contributed to the global financial crisis. The key to a return to global financial buoyancy will be the coordinated resolution of the global imbalances over the medium term, as well as the establishment of a strong global financial regulatory framework focusing on both macro‐ and micro‐financial risks.

In the paper, the author analyzes the role of the interaction of financial innovation, regulatory and global imbalances in the creation of the real estate bubble, shadow banking and the eventual collpase of what the author dubbed the Banking 2.0 structure (1980s).

The main findings are that these factors contributed to a flattening of the yield curve in 2004‐2006 despite the tightening of monetary policy and growing US fiscal deficits. Moreover, while the US dollar is on a long‐term weakening trend, the lack of alternatives means that it will maintain its role as a reserve currency.

This paper focuses on the role of the global imbalances in triggering the financial crisis and shaping the role of the dollar in the post‐crisis world.

The 2008 financial crisis emerged in the United States. However, the crisis spread across other countries very rapidly. The European Union countries were also affected by the crisis. The uncertainties and the decreases in balance sheet assets observed in European countries complicated the discharge of debts of countries, which have more fragile structures, and turned the financial crisis into a debt crisis in the year 2010. The European debt crisis caused a significant pressure on the Eurozone, put the financial sector under stress, and expanded the gaps in capital budgets. In order to restructure after the crisis and to eliminate the effects of the crisis, many measures were taken, and various mechanisms were developed. As a result of the measures are taken and the policies implemented, recovery was seen in financial and economic indicators as of the year 2012, but the COVID-19 pandemic emerging in the year 2019 brought a new shock wave. As a result, it became necessary to review the economic and financial measures taken before, to add new ones to the current mechanisms, and determine and monitor the vulnerability of the system. For this purpose, in January 2021, European Commission declared that a new strategy was set. In the present study, the measures taken and the mechanisms developed after the 2008 crisis were summarized and the advancements in financial and economic variables were examined by making use of the statistical data. Moreover, also information about the new strategy set after the year 2021 was provided. It is projected that, in the long run, the consistent and uniform implementation of measures taken and ensuring the efficient functioning of mechanisms developed would strengthen the economic and financial structures of European economies, support the integration, and increase the competitive power.

Due to the financial disturbances created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the burden on the government exchequer, it is expected to see a rise in the knowledge base of the research corpus so far as the government's fiscal sustainability is concerned. Therefore, the present research examines a systematic quantitative analysis of public debt sustainability research by applying a bibliometric approach. Research also analyzes journals, institutions, countries and authors contributing to public debt sustainability.

This paper scrutinizes the published scientific research on public debt sustainability based on the dataset of 535 articles from 1991 to 2021 obtained from the Scopus database. Biblioshiny (R-based application) and VoSviewer software were used to perform bibliometric analysis through Performance analysis and science mapping techniques. The authors combined co-citation analysis (CCA), bibliometric analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis (KCA) and a conceptual thematic map of the most cited articles to find the intellectual structure.

The research identified three dominating clusters, e.g. fiscal sustainability and policy rules, empirical sustainability testing and debt and growth dynamics. Another finding was that most articles were analytical and empirical and few descriptive articles were found. Owing to the empirical nature of the domain, the issues concerning public debt sustainability have continued to change over the past decades for different economies, reflecting the complexity and diversity of economic structures of different economies at different times.

The insight of this article provides academicians and researchers with a more refined comprehension of the conceptual and intellectual structure of the research corpus. The present research complements the existing literature review studies by pushing the research towards emerging or less developed issues such as financial and debt crises.

The paper aims to present an integrated foresight framework and method to support decision-makers who are confronted with today’s complex and rapidly changing world. The method aims at reducing the degree of uncertainty by addressing the inertia or duration of unfolding trends and by placing individual trends in a broader context.

The paper presents a three-layered framework and method for assessing megatrends based on their inertia or duration. It suggests that if long-term trends and key future uncertainties are studied in conjunction at a meta-level and placed in a broader multi-layered framework of trends, it can result in new insights.

The application of the proposed foresight method helps to systematically place a wide range of unrelated trends and key uncertainties in the context of a broader framework of trends, thereby improving the ability to understand the inertia, direction and mutual interaction of these trends.

The elaboration of identified trends and key uncertainties is partly case-specific and subject to interpretation. It is aimed at illustrating the potential use of the framework.

The paper presents a new approach that may, by itself or in combination with existing foresight methods, offer new means for anticipating future developments.

The use of the proposed framework has potential to provide better insight in the complexity of today’s rapid-changing world and the major transitions taking place. It aims to result in sharper foresight by reducing epistemic uncertainty for decision-makers.

The paper demonstrates how megatrends, Kondratieff waves and century-long trends can be placed in an integrated framework and analysed in conjunction.

The U.S. has a deficit problem. Both political parties agree that the debt and the deficit must be addressed, but are at odds about how to do so. Worse still, there are members of both parties who make finding solutions difficult because of entrenched ideology. As we approach the second year of Congressional impasse, it appears that this crisis is far from over. It is little wonder that teaching students about this issue is difficult. There are myriad nuances and complexities that are challenging to get across to students through traditional means. Simulations are one way to introduce students to complex phenomena by allowing them to experience them. Simulations have proven to be effective teaching tools for addressing subjective experiences and fostering inquiry. Shifts in student dispositions also may occur with simulations. This paper walks the reader through an adaptation of the board game Monopoly to demonstrate how this simulation game can be used to teach students about the deficit crisis and debate from multiple perspectives across the socioeconomic spectrum.

This paper identified the ṣukūk structure suitable for deficit financing during the COVID-19 crisis. The study also explored the relevant Sharīʿah contracts that could be utilized to issue ṣukūk that is suitable for various jurisdictions and corporations in handling deficit financing during the COVID-19 crisis.

The authors have adopted a qualitative research approach in which primary and secondary sources available on the subject were reviewed, especially a number of cases related to ṣukūk structures prior to and during the COVID-19 crisis and analyzed their performances and drawn their conclusions.

The outcome of this paper suggests that certain ṣukūk structures used during the COVID-19 crisis aimed primarily at financing deficit have been successful. Furthermore, these ṣukūk structures are relied very much on the obligator’s/issuer’s cash flow position. It has been revealed that if the ṣukūk is structured on equity-based contracts with lower repayment amount or no payment, it would not trigger default because the nature of this ṣukūk is the sharing of profit and loss, in accordance with a Sharīʿah rule that there will be compensation for any loss only if deliberate and notable negligence is proven. However, if it is debt based or ijarah and wakalah contracts, then the payment to ṣukūk holders ought to be made as agreed and if not, it will trigger default. This payment is to be made from the cash flow of the issuer and if there is an issue in the cash flow of the issuer due to COVID-19, consent from the ṣukūk holders needs to be obtained to reschedule payment as found in the case of the Garuda Indonesia ṣukūk. However, as found in MASB’s IMTN ṣukūk case, if the cash flow of the company is good, then the chances of default are very slim. However, so far, three new ṣukūk in the middle of COVID-19 were issued, one by a corporation and two issued by a sovereign, one of which addresses the liquidity issues during the pandemic, and all these proved that ṣukūk is definitely a viable alternative mode for deficit financing and a reliable option during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper looked into the ṣukūk structure, especially the ṣukūk which are yet to mature and the new ṣukūk issued during the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is anticipated that the outcome of this research will assist the stakeholders in ṣukūk markets to understand the ṣukūk impact on COVID-19 related deficit financing and suggest various structures that could be utilized in the ṣukūk market in an unprecedented situation such as the COVID-19 economic distress.

Looking at the social aspect of ṣukūk markets, this paper has endeavored to provide solutions to the financing of deficit for social well-being as a tool to provide relief and social stability in the lives of the people.

The novel COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented economic difficulties and market distress on a global scale; and this research sought to identify the relevant ṣukūk structures to be used for deficit financing during the pandemic crisis, especially the ṣukūk which are yet to mature and new ṣukūk issued during the pandemic crisis. The former includes HDFC Muḍārabah ṣukūk (2019) Maldives and MAHB ṣukūk/IMTN program (2010) Malaysia, while the latter includes IsDB Trust Certificates, Phase 2 of the tranches (2020), the Federal Government of Nigeria Road ṣukūk (May, 2020) and Sharj’ah Government two billion Dirham ṣukūk (June, 2020).

In the euro’s initial years, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain observed capital flow bonanzas and credit-booms, two cycles known to precede banking crises. Domestic banks fuelled those cycles via funding obtained from foreign financial institutions. Yet, these countries’ banking and financial crises have unfolded in different modes. In Ireland and Spain, credit-booms propelled real-estate bubbles, which dragged banks into crises, with governments’ accounts later being affected when rescuing banks (Spanish regional banks, and all Irish major banks). In Greece and Italy, extra monetary means perpetuated government imbalances (e.g. debt levels above 100% of GDP, large yearly deficits). More severely in Greece, banks were brought into crises by sovereign crises. In Portugal, a mixture of private and public sector–led crises have occurred. Our comparative study finds that these crises: (1) are connected to shocks and imbalances caused by dangerous banking sector cycles during the monetary integration process; (2) were not mere expansions of the US subprime crisis; (3) were not only caused by country-specific features and institutions; and (4) followed distinct paths, therefore, a uniform model encompassing all post-euro crises cannot exist.

The case of the Argentinian fiscal crisis provides an opportunity to consider the potentially grave consequences of sustained trade and fiscal deficits. Argentina had pegged the value of its currency at an artificially high level, leading to constant international trade deficits. In addition government spending grew substantially but was not matched with corresponding increases in revenue, resulting in sustained fiscal deficits. Crisis erupted in 2002 as GDP fell by 20% and inflation reached 70%. 54% of the population fell into poverty. Currency devaluation, renegotiation of debt, and emergency fiscal measures were undertaken to stabilize the situation. The Argentinian experience shows that substantial trade and fiscal deficits are not ultimately sustainable, and that potentially painful measures must be taken to correct them before economic crisis results.