Review
"...an intriguing methodology to spot pre-crisis warning signs...some practical solutions..." (
Financial Times, 30 December 2002)
"offers a practical guide for all major participants in a financial crisis... the book draws helpful lessons from the numerous financial crises of the past two decades, including U.S. domestic experience. It usefully reminds readers that crises provide opportunities for shedding out-of-date practices - and for making money - as well as impose economic costs." (Foreign Affairs, March 2003 (United States))
"...an intriguing methodology to spot pre-crisis warning signs...practical solutions as to how companies and countries can best deal with financial crashes..." (Financial Times, December 30, 2002 (United Kingdom))
"very popular in German banking circles at the moment. It deals with the warning signals relating to financial crises, the momentum associated with them, and ways of dealing with them... [It] provides a riveting insider report on system crises in newly industrialized countries and financial difficulties in the banking sectors of G7 states." (Handelsblatt, February 21/22, 2003 (Germany))
"a hefty chuck of valuable intelligence that deserves the hours of serious study it demands of a reader. The authors offer general observations on past crises, then provide detailed analyses on strategies that succeeded and failed in the past. They focus on the performance of individual company managers and pepper the book with lists of dos and don'ts." (Far East Economic Review, February 27, 2003 (Asia))
"The timing of this book couldn't be better. As political crises continue to escalate globally, financial crises will likely follow. And companies need all the help they can get." (Business Finance, February 2003 (United States))
"The authors...cite five boundary conditions that are changing in times of crisis.... The five "degrees of freedom" in volatility are: regulatory regimes; competitive landscape; customer behavior; organizational capacity for change; and social values. It is the ability of managers to grasp the impact of these changes, prompted by the crisis, and then turn them into opportunities that leads to many successful stories of companies highlighted in the book." (Jakarta Post, October 12, 2002 (Indonesia))
"Critics rate the book highly, noting while many books discuss financial crises and their ramifications, none has presented an action plan for managing them. The book presents a method that allows executives and financial professionals to recognize the warning signs and act appropriately before the situation gets out of hand...also details best practices that help corporations weather crises." (Business World, October 15, 2002 (Philippines))
"highly readable and actually a quick read...a management toolkit, with all the tools neatly arranged and ready on hand when the need arises. On an unlit, stormy night when the manager's company suffers a flat tire, that manager would surely wish he'd bought this handy-dandy toolkit." (Business World, October 16, 2002 (Philippines))
"Dangerous Markets concludes that financial crises like the one that swept Asia have become more frequent in the past decade or so and will become more frequent as developing economies enter the global economy...
"So what should managers and investors do if they see signs of an imminent crisis? The authors point to companies that have prospered in the past by seeing crisis as an opportunity to gain on less well-prepared competitors.... What these examples have in common is that managers took advantage of the situations rather than adopting a defensive posture to crisis conditions." (Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2002 (Asia))
Review
"Financial crises are hardly limited to the purview of central bankers and regulators. The authors skillfully demonstrate that financial crises offer both peril and promise. A 'must read' for top management of any global company, whether a financial or a nonfinancial institution." —Ronald P. O'Hanley, Vice Chairman, Mellon Financial Corp.
"Based on their vast experience in financial crises around the world during recent years, the authors have developed an impressive review of the origins of and solutions to financial crises. The cost of such crises can be minimized and the path to recovery established earlier if bankers, other corporate executives, and public finance officials take advantage of this effort and apply the lessons learned from their significant work." —Charles H. Dallara, Managing Director, Institute of International Finance, Inc.
"Dangerous Markets is a 'must read' in the current global environment for all serious investors and senior executives. The McKinsey authors bring a unique practitioners' perspective to the challenges of anticipating, managing, and succeeding in financial crises, and close with an intriguing call for leading private sector players to step up their role in promoting new market standards and structures to help avoid future financial crises and minimize their potential impact." —Robert R. Glauber, Chairman and CEO, National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, former Harvard Business School professor
"The authors address an issue of enormous importance in today's volatile world. They emphasize the critical role that the management of financial institutions can play, not only in leading their own institutions through choppy waters, but in helping shape the development of more robust financial systems." —Peter Sands, Group Finance Director, Standard Chartered Bank
"Barton, Newell, and Wilson provide new and important insights into financial crises based on their extensive and successful work with private financial institutions and with governments. They offer clear and persuasive guidance on how best to avoid crises, how to see them coming, and what to do when they happen. This is best-practice counsel from three leaders in the field. They have worked in the trenches, and bring a vital private sector perspective." —Martin N. Baily, Senior Fellow, Institute for International Economics, former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
"The book results from a fresh and imaginative approach to financial crises in the past few years, considering corporations' standpoint. The insights are precious to top executives as well as to regulators and academics; in fact, the book provides a very skillful demonstration of the value of the dialogue between all interested parties on the issue of financial crises. Since the focus of such crises is now moving toward nonfinancial corporations, the book becomes even more timely and important." —Gustavo Franco, Partner, Rio Bravo Investimentos, Professor of Economics, Pont?fica Universidade Cat?lica, former Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil
"As a member of the private equity investment community, I recommend Dangerous Markets to all members of the world business community. Their insights provide valuable lessons which if applied can make the world markets much more efficient and stable." —Steven Lee, Partner, Lone Star Fund
"Based on their unparalleled experience consulting during financial crises, Barton, Newell, and Wilson offer a fresh perspective on such episodes. The microeconomic focus - as opposed to the conventional macro view - provides important new insights into the difficult art of forecasting and surviving these storms." —Dr. Jos? A. Scheinkman, Chaire Blaise Pascal de l'?tat et de la Region ?le de France, Theodore Wells '29 Professor of Economics, Princeton University
