A History of Financialization: Inequality, Debt and Crisis from Liberalism to Neoliberalism(Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy)

Analyzing long-cycle patterns during the twentieth century, this book presents novel findings on how core features of financialization are interconnected across advanced economies. Since the late nineteenth century, international macroeconomic policy regimes have favored either capital or labor, giving rise to corresponding cycles of financialization and de-financialization: a liberal phase of financialization (1896–1929), a regulated phase of de-financialization (1946–1973), and a neoliberal phase of financialization (1983–2019). The book shows how these cycles can be explained through underconsumption theory in 13 advanced economies. During financialization, inequality created a savings glut that stimulated liquidity for credit expansion, which in turn led to financial instability. Meanwhile, the lack of aggregate demand due to inequality depressed economic growth. By contrast, during the de-financialization of the regulated Bretton Woods era, credit formation did not lead to financial crises, and economic growth was high. Nevertheless, both the liberal and regulated phases succumbed to structural crises caused by internal frictions. These crises transformed not only the economy, but also the political landscape – and at times even democracy itself. The question remains whether the neoliberal regime is also undergoing an existential crisis, and what lessons we can learn from history to avoid the pitfalls ahead. The book is primarily aimed at scholars and students of global political economy.

Table of Contents:
Introduction PART I: FRAMEWORK 1. Economic theory 2. Historiography 3. Methodology PART II: CYCLES OF FINANCIALIZATION 4. Liberal financialization 5. Regulated de-financialization 6. Neoliberal financialization Conclusions Data appendix Index

About the Author :
Lars Ahnland has a PhD in Economic history at Stockholm University, where he holds a tenured position as a teacher and researcher, as well as a temporary position as director of undergraduate studies, including for the Bachelor´s program in Global Political Economy in a Historical Perspective. His research is within the fields of financial history, political economy and applied econometrics. Apart from the current book, most of his research is in a Swedish context. Before being a researcher, he worked as a business journalist, with experience from reporting during the dot.com-bubble and -bust, and the subprime-bubble and -bust.