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The historical situation of low interest rates after the Fed's response to the 2001 crisis alongside with huge foreign money inflow to the US are presented as the historical context in which subprime lending and financial instruments like CDOs and CDS evolved. Then those instruments as well as the concept of leverage are explained briefly. 2009 Level: beginner The Crisis of Credit Visualized   Films for Action Renowned scholars elaborate a critique on neoclassical economics and how it was unable to predict and even favoured the financial crisis. They refer to DSGE models, equilibrium theory and rational agents – a brief insight in the critique on neoclassic economics. 2012 Level: beginner Financial Instability Mini-Documentary Joseph Stiglitz, Gillian Tett, David Tuckett, Stephen Kinsella, John Kay, David Weinstein, Steve Keen and Dirk Bezemer INET Economist and 2020 Balzan Prize winner for Environmental Challenges: Responses from the Social Sciences and Humanities, Joan Martínez Alier, speaks on the importance of ecological economics and its timeliness around the 2007/2008 global financial crisis. He speaks on the importance of building the field of ecological economics “from the ground up” through praxis. 2012 Level: beginner Ecological Economics Joan Martinez Alier Extraenvironmentalist What is money and how does it work? The short film reveals common misunderstandings of where money comes from, explains how money is created by banks and presents consequences of money as credit. The video is part of the campaign positive money, promoting the democratic control over money creation. 2013 Level: beginner What is money?   Positive Money Dirk Bezemer exemplary presents pattern of the U.S. economy before the 2007 economic crisis and explains how due to those pattern the crisis could have been, unless not precisely predicted, yet anticipated. 2014 Level: beginner Prof Dirk Bezemer on 2007/2008 Financial Crisis Dirk Bezemer University of Groningen In the second video of the series Investigating International Finance, an alternative view on capital controls is given contrasting with the paradigm of classical trade theory suggesting that the removal of trade and capital barriers is associated with higher market efficiency. After explaining the conceptual mechanisms underlying capital controls, examples are introduced where countries actually apply capital controls and how these controls have been associated with a lesser exposure to international financial crises spillovers. 2012 Level: beginner Capital controls - Investigating International Finance, Episode 2   New Economics Foundation Based on a critique on econometric and DSGE models (in particular in the context of the financial crisis), Doyne Farmer presents his current research programme that aims at building an agent-based model of the financial and economic crisis. It models heterogeneous agents and from there simulates the economy, firstly for the housing market. The interview gives a short insight in the research programme. 2011 Level: beginner Macroeconomics From the Bottom Up Doyne Farmer INET Sheila Dow discusses the concept of radical uncertainty and the failure of neoclassical economics to integrate it into its analysis. As to the implications for financial regulation that arise from the presence of radical uncertainty she argues for institutional overhaul, where the banks see themselves as a licensed partner of the central bank and where rules, values, and conventions would be subject to a cultural shift. Also, Sheila Dow advocates for a renewed focus on retail banking. 2015 Level: advanced The Economics of Uncertainty Sheila Dow INET This multimedia dossier is part of the series „Understanding Finance“ by Finance Watch. The dossier focuses on universal banks – banks that pursue commercial and investment banking and points out several problems of those megabanks, especially in the context of the financial crisis (too big to fail). 2014 Level: beginner Splitting megabanks?   Finance Watch The page "Positive Money" gathers text and short videos which explain how money is created by banks by giving loans. It furthermore presents the consequences of this process on housing prices, inequality and the environment and its role in the financial crisis. The dossier is provided by the campaign "Positive Money" which aims at a democratic control over money creation. Besides texts by the campaign, the page makes available links to journal and conference articles on the topic. The page focuses on the banking system of the UK. Level: beginner Positive Money   Positive Money This essay draws on several analyses on the gender impact of the recession and of austerity policies, in which authors acknowledge a threat to women’s labour market integration and a potential backlash to traditional gender labour structures. We contribute to that literature by asking whether recession and austerity convey a gender effect on educational attainment. Our aim in this essay is to portray the likely effects of austerity measures on gender equality with a focus on women’s participation in tertiary education and to hypothesize the implications of these scenarios for labour market effects, to be tested in future empirical research. 2017 Level: beginner The impact of Austerity on Gender in Tertiary Education: A Theoretical Analysis Zeynep M. Nettekoven and Izaskun Zuazu Exploring Economics Due to the economic crisis of 2008/2009, households faced drastic decreases in their incomes, the availability of jobs. Additionally, the structure of the labour market changed, while austerity measures and public spending cuts left households with less support and safeguards provided by the state. How have these developments affected the burden of unpaid labour and what influence did this have on gender relations? 2017 Level: beginner The effect of austerity on unpaid work and gender relations in Europe Lotte Maaßen Exploring Economics Teaching the public about lobbying and its effects on financial institutions that help run the economy in which we all live and use. 2013 Level: beginner Is lobbying bad for the economy? Marriane Bertrand; Luigi Zingales Chicago Booth Review The vast uncertainty surrounding the possible spread of COVID 19 and the duration of the near economic standstill required to combat it make forecasting little different from guessing Clearly this is a whatever it takes moment for large scale outside the box fiscal and monetary policies Carmen M Reinhart Project … 2020 Level: advanced This Time Truly Is Different | by Carmen M. Reinhart Carmen M. Reinhart Project Syndicate For some days, global financial markets are in turmoil. Central banks and governments are dealing with the unfolding crisis on a daily basis with seemingly u... 2020 Level: beginner Replay of the financial crisis of 2008? What is different today, and what to expect? Adam Tooze & Gerhard Schick Finanzwende The Great Recession 2.0 is unfolding before our very eyes. It is still in its early phase. But dynamics have been set in motion that are not easily stopped, or even slowed. If the virus effect were resolved by early summer—as some politicians wishfully believe—the economic dynamics set in motion would still continue. The US and global economies have been seriously ‘wounded’ and will not recover easily or soon. Those who believe it will be a ‘V-shape’ recovery are deluding themselves. Economists among them should know better but are among the most confused. They only need to look at historical parallels to convince themselves otherwise. 2020 Level: beginner Origins & Emergence of the 2020 Great Recession in the US Economy Dr. Jack Rasmus Exploring Economics One of the pluralist theories which has gained prominence following the 2008 financial crisis is Hyman Minsky and his Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH). Minsky was unique in viewing balance sheets and financial flows as the primary components of capitalist economies, and his focus on the financial system meant he was well-equipped for foresee a crisis much like 2008. Although he died long before 2008 his framework anticipated many of the processes which led to the crash, particularly increased risk-taking and financial innovation which would outstrip the abilities of regulators and central banks to manage the system. 2020 Level: beginner Minsky’s Moments Cahal Moran Rethinking Economics Most mainstream neoclassical economists completely failed to anticipate the crisis which broke in 2007 and 2008. There is however a long tradition of economic analysis which emphasises how growth in a capitalist economy leads to an accumulation of tensions and results in periodic crises. This paper first reviews the work of Karl Marx who was one of the first writers to incorporate an analysis of periodic crisis in his analysis of capitalist accumulation. The paper then considers the approach of various subsequent Marxian writers, most of whom locate periodic cyclical crises within the framework of longer-term phases of capitalist development, the most recent of which is generally seen as having begun in the 1980s. The paper also looks at the analyses of Thorstein Veblen and Wesley Claire Mitchell, two US institutionalist economists who stressed the role of finance and its contribution to generating periodic crises, and the Italian Circuitist writers who stress the problematic challenge of ensuring that bank advances to productive enterprises can successfully be repaid. 2014 Level: advanced Finance and Crisis: Marxian, Institutionalist and Circuitist approaches Georgios Argitis, Trevor Evans, Jo Michell, Jan Toporowski Institute for International Political Economy Berlin Since the 1980s, the financial sector and its role have increased significantly. This development is often referred to as financialization. Authors working in the heterodox tradition have raised the question whether the changing role of finance manifests a new era in the history of capitalism. The present article first provides some general discussion on the term financialization and presents some stylized facts which highlight the rise of finance. Then, it proceeds by briefly reviewing the main arguments in the Marxian framework that proposedly lead to crisis. Next, two schools of thought in the Marxian tradition are reviewed which consider financialization as the latest stage of capitalism. They highlight the contradictions imposed by financialization that disrupt the growth process and also stress the fragilities imposed by the new growth regime. The two approaches introduced here are the Social Structure of Accumulation Theory and Monthly Review School. The subsequent part proceeds with the Post-Keynesian theory, first introducing potential destabilizing factors before discussing financialization and the finance-led growth regime. The last section provides a comparative summary. While the basic narrative in all approaches considered here is quite similar, major differences stem from the relationship between neoliberalism and financialization and, moreover, from the question of whether financialization can be considered cause or effect. 2016 Level: advanced Financialization and the crises of capitalism Petra Dühnhaupt Institute for International Political Economy Berlin The global financial crisis (GFC) led to increasing distrust in economic research and the economics profession, in the process of which the current state of economics and economic education in particular were heavily criticized. Against this background we conducted a study with undergraduate students of economics in order to capture their view of economic education. 2018 Level: beginner What economics education is missing: The real world Stephan Pühringer, Lukas Bäuerle Institute of Economics and Philosophy Cusanus Hochschule This module examines current socio-political issues through the lens of pluralism, that is pluralism of theory, pluralism of method and interdisciplinary pluralism 2020 Level: beginner Pluralist Economic Analysis Sophia Kuehnlenz Manchester Metropolitan University How exactly are persisting social inequalities and the operations of modern finance connected? Adam Tooze provides a detailed answer to a still relevant problem by focusing on the Great Financial Crisis and the role of the finance industry in the USA. 2019 Level: advanced Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World Adam Tooze Paris School of Economics Understanding the financial crisis from four very different economic theories: Social Economics, Institutional Economics, Post Keynesian economics. Level: beginner Economics from a pluralist perspective Prof. Dr. Irene van Staveren, Prof. Dr. Rob van Tulder, Maria Dafnomili (PhD researcher) Erasmus University Rotterdam Photo by Kaitlyn Ashley on Unsplash The world is still feeling reverberations from the financial crisis of 2008 foreseen by neither politicians nor economists The history of capitalism has been punctuated by major crises exposing the fragility of our entire economic system How has capitalism despite these ruptures managed to … 2012 Level: beginner The Future of Capitalism Anatole Kaletsky n.a. This course is an introduction to the economic theories of financial crises It focuses on amplification mechanisms that exacerbate crises such as leverage fire sales bank runs interconnections and complexity It also analyzes the different perspectives on the origins of crises such as mistaken beliefs and moral hazard and discusses … Level: beginner Financial Crises Alp Simsek Massachusetts Institute of Technology Neoliberalism is dead. Again. After the election of Trump and the victory of Brexit in 2016, many diagnosed the demise of the ideology of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Augusto Pinochet, and the WTO. Yet the philosophy of the free market and the strong state has an uncanny capacity to survive and even thrive in crisis. 2020 Level: advanced Nine Lives of Neoliberalism Dieter Plehwe Verso Books In his 2010 published book “The Enigma of Capital and the Crises of Capitalism” multi-talented US geographer, anthropologist and Marxist economist David Harvey aims to analyse the capitalist system that has shaped western society and the globalized world of today. 2011 Level: advanced The Enigma of Capital David Harvey Profile Books The current global financial system may not withstand the next global financial crisis. In order to promote the resilience and stability of our global financial system against future shocks and crises, a fundamental reconceptualisation of financial regulation is necessary. This reconceptualisation must begin with a deep understanding of how today's financial markets, regulatory initiatives and laws operate and interact at the global level. 2016 Level: advanced Reconceptualising Global Finance and its Regulation Ross P. Buckley, Emilios Avgouleas, Douglas W. Arner Cambridge University Press This thoroughly revised and updated second edition provides a comprehensive guide to Post Keynesian methodology, theory and policy prescriptions. The Companion reflects the challenges posed by the global financial crisis that began in 2008 and by the consolidation of the New Neoclassical Synthesis in macroeconomic theory. 2012 Level: advanced The Elgar Companion to Post Keynesian Economics J. E. King Edward Elgar This invaluable volume brings together seminal articles with a significant behavioural content on various areas in macroeconomics. 2012 Level: advanced Behavioural Macroeconomics Ian Martin McDonald Edward Elgar The U.S. economy today is confronted with the prospect of extended stagnation. This book explores why. Thomas I. Palley argues that the Great Recession and destruction of shared prosperity is due to flawed economic policy over the past thirty years. 2012 Level: advanced From Financial Crisis to Stagnation Thomas I. Palley Cambridge University Press The world has changed dramatically in recent years and so has the field of economics, but many introductory economics textbooks have remained stuck in the past. This book provides a new beginning for the study of macroeconomics, fundamentally international in its approach and emphasizing current debates and research trends. 2014 Level: advanced Macroeconomics Dorman, Peter Springer-Verlag

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