Hedgefonds und Schattenbanken - Widerstreitende Interessen auf den Finanzmärkten?

In both economics textbooks and public perceptions central banks are a fact of life. On the wall of my A-level economics classroom there was the Will Rogers quote “there have been three great inventions since the beginning of time: fire, the wheel, and central banking”, summarising how many economists view the institution. There is a widespread belief that there is something different about money which calls for a central authority to manage its operation, a view shared even by staunch free marketeers such as Milton Friedman. This belief is not without justification, since money underpins every transaction in a way that apples do not, but we should always be careful not to take existing institutions for granted and central banking is no exception. In this post I will look at the idea of private or free banking, where banks compete (and cooperate) to issue their own currency.

Mariana Mazzucato explains how we lost sight of what value means and why we need to rethink our current financial systems so capitalism can be steered toward a bold, innovative and sustainable future that works for all of us.

What does the financialization of housing, weakened pension rights, and land grabbing have in common with 2020's post-pandemic crisis? David Harvey explains how these are all results of the increased tendency of accumulation by dispossession, where profits today are mostly generated by dispossession after a crisis and not by production. Will governments in every part of the world be able to prevent that pattern from happening again in the near future?

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.