Frank Westermann – författare

Issues in debates about foreign currency exposure—the denomination of liabilities or assets in foreign currency.

The foreign currency denomination of contracts in international transactions can lead to international currency exposure at the country level with important economic and policy implications. When debts are denominated in foreign currency and revenues in domestic currency, exchange rate fluctuations can result in balance sheet effects for countries with either net asset or liability positions. Moreover, currency mismatch between assets and liabilities can be a cause for crises in developing and emerging economies. This book looks at the issues surrounding foreign currency exposure in today''s increasingly integrated world economy.

The contributors draw on cross-country as well as country-specific data. They consider international currency risk after the Swiss franc ended its one-sided peg with the euro, for example, and the foreign exchange positions of firms in Turkey and Russia. Other contributors take macroeconomic perspectives, examining the potential effects of exchange rate realignment, the pressure to appreciate on countries with current account surpluses, and the currency exposure in international trade. Finally, contributors consider the issue from finance and political economy perspectives, addressing the phenomenon of the forward premium puzzle and discussing geopolitical aspects ascending currencies.

ContributorsFatih Altunok, Huseyin Aytug, Agustín S. Bénétrix, Jörg Breitung, Paul De Grauwe, Eiji Fujii, Peter Garber, Juann H. Hung, Signe Krogstrup, Philip R. Lane, Katja Mann, Arif Oduncu, Gunther Schnabl, Maria V. Sokolova, Cédric Tille

This book provides a state-of-the-art review of the biology, treatment, and other critical aspects of neuroblastoma, reflecting the dramatic advances that have been achieved in understanding and management. Topics are arranged according to the book’s dominant themes of the “seed” (tumor genomics, epigenetics, metabolism, and stem cells) and the “soil” (tumor microenvironment, adaptive and innate immunity, and exosomes) and how both of these influences can serve as rich targets for intervention, whether by targeted molecular therapy or immunotherapy. Therapeutic strategies that are currently in use or under consideration for the future are discussed in detail, with the focus on precision medicine. Further individual chapters are devoted to the biology and genetics of relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma and emerging methods of evaluating tumor burden. Finally, in keeping with the, albeit modest, increase in cure rates in high-risk disease, immune and cellular therapies are reviewed. This coverage of what is becoming a not-so-enigmatic tumor will appeal to a broad readership including both experimental oncologists and clinicians who care for patients with neuroblastoma.