The Political Economy of Financialisation

Abstract

The ongoing global crisis has opened new debates about the role of the financial sector in contemporary capitalism. A particular promising avenue is the concept of financialization, which is denotes the “increasing importance of financial markets, financial motives and financial actors in the operations of the economy” (Gerald Epstein). Evidence of financialization - such as the dramatically increased ratio of credit to GDP in many countries, the increased shares of income accruing to holders of financial assets, or the significance of financial motives in running non-financial corporations, households, and whole polities – is abundant. Yet, we still know little about how this process came about, which are mechanisms stabilizing and reproducing it, how financialization plays out in different segments of economy, society, and the polity, and how to cope with its fall out. The panel invites contributions that shed light on any of these questions from a theoretical or empirical perspective.

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