Financial crises and the nature of capitalist money
Financial crises and the nature of capitalist money

Author: Jocelyn Pixley

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-09-12

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 113730295X

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This volume is a debate about a sociology and economics of money: a form of positive trespassing. It is unique in being written by scholars of both disciplines committed to this mutual venture and in starting from the original groundwork laid by Geoffrey Ingham. The contributors look critically at money's institutions and the meanings and history of money-creation and show the cross cutting purposes or incommensurable sides of money and its crises. These arise from severe tensions and social conflicts about the production of money and its many purposes. We demonstrate the centrality of money to capitalism and consider social disorders since the 2007 crisis, which marks the timeliness and need for dialogue. Both disciplines have far too much to offer to remain in the former, damaging standoff. While we are thankful to see a possible diminution of this split, remnants are maintained by mainstream economic and sociological theorists who, after all the crises of the past 30 years, and many before, still hold to an argument that money really does not 'matter'. We suggest, to many different and interested audiences, that since money is a promise, understanding this social relation must be a joint though plural task between economics and sociology at the very least.

The Future of Money
The Future of Money

Author: Mary Mellor

Publisher: Pluto Press

Published: 2010-05-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780745329949

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As the recent financial crisis has revealed, the state is central to the stability of the money system, while the chaotic privately-owned banks reap the benefits without shouldering the risks. This book argues that money is a public resource that has been hijacked by capitalism. Mary Mellor explores the history of money and modern banking, showing how finance capital has captured bank-created money to enhance speculative leveraged profits as well as destroying collective approaches to economic life. Meanwhile, most individuals, and the public economy, have been mired in debt. To correct this obvious injustice, Mellor proposes a public and democratic future for money. Ways are put forward for structuring the money and banking system to provision societies on an equitable, ecologically sustainable sufficiency basis. This fascinating study of money should be read by all economics students looking for an original analysis of the economy during the current crisis.

Financial Crises Explanations, Types, and Implications
Financial Crises Explanations, Types, and Implications

Author: Mr.Stijn Claessens

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2013-01-30

Total Pages: 66

ISBN-13: 1475561008

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This paper reviews the literature on financial crises focusing on three specific aspects. First, what are the main factors explaining financial crises? Since many theories on the sources of financial crises highlight the importance of sharp fluctuations in asset and credit markets, the paper briefly reviews theoretical and empirical studies on developments in these markets around financial crises. Second, what are the major types of financial crises? The paper focuses on the main theoretical and empirical explanations of four types of financial crises—currency crises, sudden stops, debt crises, and banking crises—and presents a survey of the literature that attempts to identify these episodes. Third, what are the real and financial sector implications of crises? The paper briefly reviews the short- and medium-run implications of crises for the real economy and financial sector. It concludes with a summary of the main lessons from the literature and future research directions.

Marxism and the Global Financial Crisis
Marxism and the Global Financial Crisis

Author: Hillel Ticktin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-09-13

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1317985621

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The book discusses the nature of Marxist theory of crisis and applies it to the global financial crisis which began in 2007. Is the contemporary crisis simply the usual periodic upturn and downturn or is there something more fundamental? Is there a structural crisis of capitalism, from which there is no immediate solution? Is capitalism managed and does it have a strategy? Is the financial crisis representative of a failure in capitalism itself to subject banks and other financial institutions to the overall economy? The book discusses Marx’s view on crises, as well as ideas on money and finance. It considers the different modern Marxist ideas on the causes of crises – falling rate of profit, disproportionality and underconsumption. It goes into detail as to the nature of the present crisis, its course and causes in a spirited and independent manner. Apart from the United States, it considers the situation in the two countries, in which protests erupted: Iran and Greece. They are taken as examples of the effect of the crisis on the country, the society and the economy as well as its politics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Critique.

A Political Economy of Contemporary Capitalism and its Crisis
A Political Economy of Contemporary Capitalism and its Crisis

Author: Dimitris Sotiropoulos

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-06-19

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1135037922

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The recent financial meltdown and the resulting global recession have rekindled debates regarding the nature of contemporary capitalism. This book analyses the ongoing financialization of the economy as a development within capitalism, and explores the ways in which it has changed the organization of capitalist power. The authors offer an interpretation of the role of the financial sphere which displays a striking contrast to the majority of contemporary heterodox approaches. Their interpretation stresses the crucial role of financial derivatives in the contemporary organization of capitalist power relations, arguing that the process of financialization is in fact entirely unthinkable in the absence of derivatives. The book also uses Marx’s concepts and some of the arguments developed in the framework of the historic Marxist controversies on economic crises in order to gain an insight into the modern neoliberal form of capitalism and the recent financial crisis. Employing a series of international case studies, this book will be essential reading for all those with an interest in the financial crisis, and all those seeking to comprehend the workings of capitalism.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report

Author: Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.

Published: 2011-05-01

Total Pages: 692

ISBN-13: 1616405414

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The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.

Fictitious Capital
Fictitious Capital

Author: Cédric Durand

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2017-06-06

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1784787213

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How finance is a mechanism of social and political domination The 2007–08 credit crisis and the long recession that followed brutally exposed the economic and social costs of financialization. Understanding what lay behind these events, the rise of “fictitious capital” and its opaque logic, is crucial to grasping the social and political conditions under which we live. Yet, for most people, the operations of the financial system remain shrouded in mystery. In this lucid and compelling book, economist Cédric Durand offers a concise and critical introduction to the world of finance, unveiling the truth behind the credit crunch. Fictitious Capital moves beyond moralizing tales about greedy bankers, short-sighted experts and compromised regulators to look at the big picture. Using comparative data covering the last four decades, Durand examines the relationship between trends such as the rise in private and public debt and the proliferation of financial products; norms such as our habitual assumptions about the production of value and financial stability; and the relationship of all this to political power. Fictitious Capital offers a stark warning about the direction that the international economy is taking. Durand argues that the accelerated expansion of financial operations is a sign of the declining power of the economies of the Global North. The City, Wall Street and other centres of the power of money, he suggests, may already be caked with the frosts of winter.

The Enigma of Capital
The Enigma of Capital

Author: David Harvey

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0199836841

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Covers the basic workings of capitalism, how it came to dominate the world, and why it resulted in a financial crisis in 2008, arguing that a radical overhaul of the economic system is the only way to create a sustainable future.

The Future of Capitalism
The Future of Capitalism

Author: Paul Collier

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2018-12-04

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0062748661

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Bill Gates's Five Books for Summer Reading 2019 From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the failures of capitalism and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it. Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of the United States and other Western societies: thriving cities versus rural counties, the highly skilled elite versus the less educated, wealthy versus developing countries. As these divides deepen, we have lost the sense of ethical obligation to others that was crucial to the rise of post-war social democracy. So far these rifts have been answered only by the revivalist ideologies of populism and socialism, leading to the seismic upheavals of Trump, Brexit, and the return of the far-right in Germany. We have heard many critiques of capitalism but no one has laid out a realistic way to fix it, until now. In a passionate and polemical book, celebrated economist Paul Collier outlines brilliantly original and ethical ways of healing these rifts—economic, social and cultural—with the cool head of pragmatism, rather than the fervor of ideological revivalism. He reveals how he has personally lived across these three divides, moving from working-class Sheffield to hyper-competitive Oxford, and working between Britain and Africa, and acknowledges some of the failings of his profession. Drawing on his own solutions as well as ideas from some of the world’s most distinguished social scientists, he shows us how to save capitalism from itself—and free ourselves from the intellectual baggage of the twentieth century.

Business as Usual
Business as Usual

Author: Paul Mattick

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2011-05-15

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1861899823

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The recent global economic downturn has affected nearly everyone in every corner of the globe. Its vast reach and lingering effects have made it difficult to pinpoint its exact cause, and while some economists point to the risks inherent in the modern financial system, others blame long-term imbalances in the world economy. Into this debate steps Paul Mattick, who, in Business as Usual, explains the global economic downturn in relation to the development of the world economy since World War II, but also as a fundamental example of the cycle of crisis and recovery that has characterized capitalism since the early nineteenth century. Mattick explains that today’s recession is not the result of a singular financial event but instead is a manifestation of long-term processes within the world economy. Mattick argues that the economic downturn can best be understood within the context of business cycles, which are unavoidable in a free-market economy. He uses this explanation as a springboard for exploring the nature of our capitalist society and its prospects for the future. Although Business as Usual engages with many economic theories, both mainstream and left-wing, Mattick’s accessible writing opens the subject up in order for non-specialists to understand the current economic climate not as the effect of a financial crisis, but as a manifestation of a truth about the social and economic system in which we live. As a result the book is ideal for anyone who wants to gain a succinct and jargon-free understanding of recent economic events, and, just as important, the overall dynamics of the capitalist system itself.