Singer also devotes more than half of his book to an exploration of values -- including internationalism, democracy, and equality -- and an analysis of what it will take for the left to regain the initiative. As alternative, he calls for "realistic utopia," a politics engaged with present-day possibilities but daring to pursue a world beyond capitalism.

As consumers of such assets, banks have exposed themselves to highly volatile securities that respond to interest rate and other economic changes in unexpected ways. The sudden loss of liquidity and the explosion in risk premiums that occurred in the Summer and Fall of 1998 as a result of the Long Term Capital Management fiasco, the Russian devaluation and continuing troubles in Asia illustrated the sensitivity of domestic financial conditions to what would have once been considered unrelated events. The risks to banks and other financial institutions from this volatility can only be expected to increase.

The fist step in managing this risk is understanding how capital markets have changed and exactly what types of risks are associated with syndications and securitizations. SSRM is a tool for understanding the risks to those financial institutions syndicating loans and securitizing financial assets as well as to those institutions participating in a syndication or purchasing shares in securitized pools of assets.

Successful participation as buyers or sellers in the syndication and securitization processes is often a matter of execution. Good execution requires having the right people in the right place at the right time. Attracting and retaining qualified financial professionals has become increasingly difficult in the current labor market. As a result, this book also addresses the critical personnel areas of recruiting, compensating and training in these fields.