In attempting to understand the growing importance of the monetary problem for deficit countries, the author found himself drawn into more and more abstract and general problems of economic theory and institutional change. The post-war period has completed the internationalisation of capitalism: production at any point depends directly upon a mult

Extraordinary growth of the financial relative to the nonfinancial sector has marked the development of mature capitalism during the last four decades. The changing balance between the two sectors has altered the outlook of the economy and facilitated the spread of financial concerns, practices, and outlooks across society. The result has been the gradual transformation of contemporary capitalism – namely, its financialization since the late 1970s. There are similarities between the Marxian, the Post-Keynesian and other heterodox approaches to analyzing the profound changes in money and finance in the global economy since the 1980s. Prominent among them is a common focus on financialization but also on the limits of monetary policy, the transformation of banking, the tendency to crisis related to financial excess, and the problematic role of neoliberalism in finance. Furthermore, the complexity of the interrelationship between finance and the rest of the economy has increased since the great crisis of 2007-9. This book tackles several of these developments as well as engaging in debate among different currents of heterodox economics. The chapters in this book were originally published in The Japanese Political Economy.

The deep economic recession that has occurred in all major sectors of the U.S. and global economy is a manifestation of the underlying contradictions of the capitalist system that has resulted in the accumulation of vast fortunes on one side and impoverishment, debt, and destitution on the other. In short, the crisis of global capitalism is the result of the immense disparities in wealth and income and a consequent widening gap between capital and labor. This ground-breaking book brings together a team of experts on the contemporary global capitalist political economy who are able to shed light on the inner workings of global capitalism and the capitalist globalization process that has led to the growth and development of capitalism from the national to the global level, with all its fundamental internal dynamics and contradictions operating on a world scale. It will make an important contribution to understanding the underlying causes of the current global economic crisis and show the way out of this crisis by way of a powerful critique of the global capitalist system that will ultimately go through a major economic, political, and social transformation. Analysis of the global capitalist crisis raises questions regarding the process of capitalist globalization, especially now that neoliberal economic policies have failed. Does this signal the end of capitalist globalization and the collapse of the global capitalist system? This book will take up these questions and entertain the possibility of a new beginning in the global political economy through an analysis of the next period of post-capitalist developments worldwide that may set the stage for the rise of socialism across the globe.

Written by a team of experts on the contemporary global capitalist political economy who are able to shed light on the inner workings of global capitalism and the capitalist globalization process that has led to the growth and development of capitalism from the national to the global level, this groundbreaking volume provides critical analyses of the causes and consequences of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Through a careful examination of the origin, development and aftermath of the catastrophic economic crisis from which the world is still trying to recover, editor Berch Berberoglu and his colleagues demonstrate that those most responsible for the economic collapse are the ones least affected by its devastating impact felt most severely by working people around the world. Ultimately, this book argues that it is only through the systematic restructuring of the world economy by the working class that society will be able to prevent the boom and bust cycle of global capitalist crises and usher in a more egalitarian socialist economy and society.

This volume is a debate about a sociology and economics of money: a form of positive trespassing. It is unique in being written by scholars of both disciplines committed to this mutual venture and in starting from the original groundwork laid by Geoffrey Ingham. The contributors look critically at money's institutions and the meanings and history of money-creation and show the cross cutting purposes or incommensurable sides of money and its crises. These arise from severe tensions and social conflicts about the production of money and its many purposes. We demonstrate the centrality of money to capitalism and consider social disorders since the 2007 crisis, which marks the timeliness and need for dialogue. Both disciplines have far too much to offer to remain in the former, damaging standoff. While we are thankful to see a possible diminution of this split, remnants are maintained by mainstream economic and sociological theorists who, after all the crises of the past 30 years, and many before, still hold to an argument that money really does not 'matter'. We suggest, to many different and interested audiences, that since money is a promise, understanding this social relation must be a joint though plural task between economics and sociology at the very least.

Will capitalism survive forever? Capitalism has always lived in and with crisis. Wars, revolutions, economic depression and repeated recessions, the threat of nuclear annihilation and ecological disaster have all failed to break the dominance of this economic and political system. Challenging the predominance of capitalism in a world fraught with inequalities, this book returns to classical Marxism to reaffirm its relevance. It explores the contradictions within capitalism as well as explains why Marxism has been unable to mount a sustained challenge to capitalism. In order to explore concrete alternatives in a period of increasing capitalist globalisation and crisis, it goes on to present perspectives by which theory and practice might be reunited to building independent political and organisational structures. A search for “something better”, this volume will be an engaging read for scholars and researchers of politics, especially political theory and political economy, economics, and sociology.

In this comprehensive work, Armando Navarro delivers a timely analysis of the global capitalist crisis that has arisen in the United States. Navarro offers a wide-ranging political historical analysis of events the led up to the present co-called “Second Great Depression.” Starting with the end of World War II, he tracks the various political and economic decisions that have led to the emergence of the global economic crisis that began in 2006. He provides context for the current economic situation by discussing the major economic and political events, including the Great Depression, the New Deal, the rise of neo-liberal capitalism, and the collapse of the subprime mortgage industry. Navarro incisively reviews and critiques the Obama administration and Democrats’ quasi-welfare capitalist legislation. Driven by social democratic models, he constructs a transformative social movement paradigm that calls for the rise of reform and proposes dramatic systemic change. Navarro concludes by looking at the U.S. political culture—what he contends is the major obstacle to the rise of “socialism” in the United States—and speculates about the potentially bleak economic future to come

For nearly 300 years, capitalism propelled the world's most successful economies to new heights of development. But a spate of global environmental disasters and severe economic crises compels thinkers to question whether the system continues to function. Leveraging historical perspective, extensive research, and case studies, The Crises of Capitalism builds a compelling argument that challenges the most fundamental assumptions of prevailing economic theory. Saral Sarkar exposes capitalism's flaws through the lens of ecosocialism, a philosophy that asserts that natural resources drive production and development. Keynes, Schumpeter, Marx, and Engles had no reason to believe that there would ever be a shortage of oil, minerals, water, or food—and that technological innovation could surmount any obstacle. But oil extraction has peaked, food is harder to come by, and the cost to maintain what natural resources remain has increased exponentially. Capitalism requires constant innovation to create growth—but as Sarkar establishes, even computers wouldn't exist without copper, gold, and zinc. The Crises of Capitalism exists at the intersection of environmental awareness and economic theory. Sarkar challenges predominant explanations for catastrophic events like the 2008 global economic crisis, revises the classic paradigm of growth, and points to evidence of systemic economic failure. In this provocative, revolutionary criticism, Sarkar suggests that like other long–abandoned economic theories, capitalism has reached its limits. "This is an important book, and it is on the front edge of the thinking that has to come to bear on the real crisis the world is facing, of the impossible idea of growth forever and the economic model that is driving the planet into irreversible crises." —Doug Tompkins

Global capitalism is affected by the malaises of stagnation, financial fragility, increased income inequality, growing wealth concentration at the top, and a vanishing fair social contract. This book focuses on the incidence of these phenomena in the US, UK, Greece, Spain, Chile, South Africa, Australia, China, and other countries. The book looks at the effects of IMF-ECB led austerity policies in Europe. The book examines concrete country and global conditions combining theory, country studies, historical evidence, and international comparative analysis. The book also proposes new policy priorities to restore stability, reduce inequality, and consolidate democracy in 21st century capitalism.

The essays comprising this collection analyze the deep flaws in the methodological foundation of mainstream economic theory, and explain how these flaws make mainstream economics more ideology than sound social science. James Crotty develops alternative theories built on realistic assumptions that can explain most of the disastrous economic and financial developments of the past four decades. His work contributes to the collective creation of a solid theoretical foundation on which to build an understanding of the ‘laws of motion’ of capitalism in the post WWII era.