Contested Capitalism: The Political Origins of Financial Institutions

ISBN-13: 9780415547345 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 208 str.

Richard W. Carney

Opis

This book examines the political origins of financial institutions across fifteen developed democracies, with focused case studies on the US, France, Japan, Austria, and Germany. The institutional arrangements of financial systems are widely seen as a central distinguishing feature of 'varieties of capitalism'. Through a wide-range of case studies, this book contends that political battles between landed interests, labor, and owners of capital have fundamentally shaped modern financial arrangements. Demonstrating how these conflicts have shaped contemporary financial architecture in a number of different contexts, author Richard W. Carney offers an innovative approach to explaining the distinctive capitalist arrangements of nation-states. By demonstrating the importance of landed interests to nations' institutional configurations, the book has clear implications for developing countries such as India and China. Providing a detailed account of the development of financial institutions, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, sociology, business, finance, and law. It will also offer insights valuable to government policymakers, analysts at international organizations, and the business community.

The institutional arrangements of financial systems are widely seen as constituting a key element of the institutions that characterize ‘varieties of capitalism’ across developed democracies.

This book examines the political origins of financial institutions across five countries – US, France, Japan, Austria, and Germany. It is argued that political battles among actors representing land, labor, and capital fundamentally determine financial outcomes. The origins of contemporary financial arrangements are located in the political bargains struck among these actors immediately after WWII, or in the early twentieth century. This book offers an innovative approach to explaining nations’ distinctive capitalist arrangements and by focusing on the financial arena, which many view as particularly susceptible to the pressures of global capital flows, the research highlights the importance, and continuing relevance, of these early political bargains.

The book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, political economy, economic history financial economics, international business and law, as well as government policymakers, analysts at international organizations, and the business community.

Spis treści

Part 1: Questions and Explanations  1. Introduction  2. Theory  Part 2: Broad Patterns  3. Patterns during the Twentieth Century  Part 3: Cases  4. Class Conflict  5. Social Contract  6. Urban vs. Rural Cleavages  7. Property vs. Voice  Part 4: Conclusions  8. Key Lessons

O autorze

Richard W. Carney is Assistant Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.