Hope Springs Eternal

"Sovereign debt and default are back in the news.  As Kim Ooosterlinck reminds us in his important book, this should not be a surprise.  Earlier defaults, like those of the Bolsheviks, have cast a long shadow. There is much food for thought here for financial historians and financial market participants alike."—Barry Eichengreen, George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

~Barry Eichengreen

"Financial markets are often castigated for having short memory. This book shows that actually hope trumps memory. The history of the 1917 Soviet repudiation of Russian debts is a breathtaking illustration of how markets price political risk, bailout expectations and the effect of sanctions on defaulters. This is an absolute must-read for policymakers, professional investors, researchers or simple observers of the recent financial crisis."--Rui Esteves, University of Oxford
 

~Rui Esteves