Financialisation in Crisis

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Published Mar 2012
ISBN: 9789004201071

Edited by Costas Lapavitsas, University of London SOAS

The turmoil of 2007-2009 is a crisis of financialised capitalism, and for this reason it is systemic and unusual. The crisis commenced in the sphere of finance, spread to production, and then became a world recession. Its unusual character is apparent since never before has a global economic crisis been triggered by banks lending to workers to buy houses. Moreover, state intervention to forestall the crisis becoming a major depression has been unprecedented. This book brings together several well-known political economists to analyse the domestic and international aspects of financialisation, thus putting the crisis in its appropriate context. It draws on Marxist and other heterodox economics to cast light on the broader implications of financialisation and crisis for society.

Biographical note

Costas Lapavitsas is Professor of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has published extensively on the political economy of money and finance. His publications include Social Foundations of Markets, Money and Credit (Routledge, 2003).

Readership

Academic libraries, institutes, university courses, policy centres and political/social activists. Those interested in radical explanations of the rise of finance, the transformation of the economy and the recurrence of crisis.

Table of contents

List of Tables and Figures
Introduction: A Crisis of Financialisation, Costas Lapavitsas

PART I: DOMESTIC FINANCIALISATION AND THE ROOTS OF THE CRISIS

1. Financialised Capitalism: Crisis and Financial Expropriation, Costas Lapavitsas

2. The Political Economy of the Subprime Meltdown, Gary Dymski

3. On the Content of Banking in Contemporary Capitalism, Paulo L. Dos Santos

4. Central Banking in Contemporary Capitalism: The Limits of Monetary Policy, Demophanos Papadatos

PART II: INTERNATIONAL FINANCIALISATION AND THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF THE CRISIS

5. On the Historical Significance and Social Costs of the Subprime Financial Crisis: A Comparison with Japan, Makoto Itoh

6. Oil and Finance in the Global Markets, Carlos Morera Camacho and José Antonio Rojas Nieto

7. Developing Countries in the Era of Financialisation: From Deficit Accumulation to Reserve Accumulation, Juan Pablo Painceira

8. Global Integration of Middle-Income Developing Countries in the Era of Financialisation: The Case of Turkey, Nuray Ergüneş

References
Notes on Contributors
Index