The Handbook of the Political Economy of Financial Crises

The Great Financial Crisis that began in 2007 reminds us with devastating force that financial instability and crises are endemic to capitalist economies, and that it is only strong and dynamically-changing financial regulations that can keep the damage caused by these crises within bounds. The international financial system and individual national economies, including that of the United States, are suffering from the aftermath of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Economists are struggling to understand the origins and implications of the crisis. The Handbook of the Political Economy of Financial Crises uses a political economy theoretical framework to analyze the crisis. After an opening chapter that describes the dimensions of the current crisis, the next section provides relevant theoretical frameworks. Subsequent sections apply these theoretical frameworks to analyze the background, dimensions, and implications of the crisis for the world economy. Leading scholars push forward our understanding of how and why our international and domestic economies are susceptible to financial breakdown and what can be done to mitigate this problem in the future. The methodology throughout applies theoretical concepts in the context of an historical and institutional understanding of the real world. By emphasizing the historical and institutional aspects of financial crises, the authors advance economic knowledge and provide insights into how we can manage our financial system to improve the lives of ordinary people. Contributors to this volume - Dean Baker is Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, DC. Josh Bivens is Acting Research and Policy Director at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, DC. Zuzana Brixiova is Economic Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme in Swaziland. C.P. Chandrasekhar is a Professor of Economics at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning in the School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. James Crotty is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Research Associate at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Jane D'Arista writes and lectures on economics and finance and is a Research Associate at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Mario Damill is a Researcher at Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES) and CONICET (National Council for Scientific and Technical Research) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rachel Drew is a Ph.D. student in the Public Policy program at the McCormack School of Policy and Global Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Gary Dymski is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Riverside. Gerald Epstein is a Professor in the Department of Economics and Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Korkut Erturk is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Roberto Frenkel is Principal Research Associate at Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES) and Professor at Buenos Aires University in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Duncan K. Foley is the Leo Model Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research in New York City and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Teresa Ghilarducci is a Professor in the Department of Economics and the Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA) at The New School for Social Research in New York City. Jayati Ghosh is a Professor of Economics at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning in the School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. Ilene Grabel is a Professor and Co-Director of the Masters in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration Program at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, Colorado. Michael Greenberger is the founder and director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security and a Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore, Maryland. Robert Guttmann is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Pierre Habbard is a Senior Policy Advisor to the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France. Dorene Isenberg is a Professor of Economics at the University of Redlands, California. Marc Jasulic is the Chief Economist for Better Markets, Inc. in Washington, DC. Arjun Jayadev is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Jan Kregel is a senior scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College and director of the Monetary Policy and Financial Structure Program. He currently holds the positions of Distinguished Research Professor at the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Professor of Development Finance at the Tallinn University of Technology. Costas Lapavitsas is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. William Lazonick is Professor and Director of the UMass Center for Industrial Competitiveness and President of The Academic-Industry Research Network. Minqi Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. David M. Kotz is a Professor in the Department in Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Robert McCauley is a Senior Advisor at the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel. Fred Moseley is a Professor of Economics at Mount Holyoke College. Leonce Ndikumana is the Andrew Glyn Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and Director of the African Policy Program at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Jose Antonio Ocampo is Professor and Director of the Economic and Political Development Program in the School of International and Public Affairs, and Fellow of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. Thomas I. Palley holds a PhD in Economics from Yale University and is founder and director of the project on Economics for Democratic and Open Societies. Jose Gabriel Palma is a University Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics at Cambridge University, and co-editor of the Cambridge Journal of Economics. Dominique Plihon is a Professor of Economics at the University of Paris XIII, France. Martin Rapetti is a Researcher at Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES) and Professor at Buenos Aires University in Argentina. Chris Rude holds a Phd in Economics from the New School for Social Research and writes and lectures on economics and political economy in New York. Damon Silvers is the Director of Policy and Special Counsel for the AFL-CIO. Mr. Silvers serves on a pro bono basis as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the state of New York. Mr. Silvers is also a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Standing Advisory Group and Investor Advisory Group. Ajit Singh is a Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge. Heidi Shierholz is an Economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, DC. Engelbert Stockhammer is a Professor in the School of Economics at Kingston University, London. William K. Tabb is author of The Restructuring of Capitalism in Our Time (Columbia University Press, 2012). Jennifer S. Taub is an Associate Professor of Law at the Vermont Law School in South Royalton. Christian Weller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the McCormack Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Boston and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, Washington, DC. Martin H. Wolfson teaches economics and is the Director of the Higgins Labor Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Randall Wray is a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics in the University of Missouri - Kansas City and Senior Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, New York.