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The Capitalist Development of the Economy and the Structure of Financial Institutions

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  • Hyman P. Minsky

Abstract

This paper evolves from the sharp contrast in Smithian and Keynesian views about the relationship between the financial structure and the economy. The Smithian perspective implies that the financial structure is irrelevant, whereas the Keynesian position concludes that effective financing is necessary for the "capital development of the economy"- there is also a need to constrain any tendency of what Keynes referred to as speculation to dominate. Thus, the essential elements of equilibrium in Keynesian theory, the financial theory of investment and the investment theory of business cycles, are most apt when examined as outcomes of processes that operate over time. During the 1980s, there was a sharp increase in speculative financing resulting from the trend toward leveraged buyouts and the rising demand for short-term marketable corporate liabilities. A main characteristic of a capitalist economy that is stagnant or immersed in a depression is that the capital development of the economy is not progressing. The 1980s were filled with examples of financing inept investments, while the current climate is one of grossly inadequate investment levels to create a progressive full-employment economy. The financial instability interpretation of Keynes rests upon the profitability of debt financing, and incorporates the potential collapse of asset values in an environment of speculative and Ponzi financing. Consequently, the financial structure is significantly more fragile today than earlier in the post World War II era.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyman P. Minsky, 1992. "The Capitalist Development of the Economy and the Structure of Financial Institutions," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_72, Levy Economics Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_72
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlos Gustavo Cano, 2008. "Regulación y supervisión: La otra cara de la política monetaria," Borradores de Economia 4587, Banco de la Republica.
    2. Samba Diop, 2016. "Minsky’s Analysis of Capitalist Development," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 48(2), pages 201-216, May.
    3. Georgios Argitis & Maria Nikolaidi, 2014. "The financial fragility and the crisis of the Greek government sector," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 274-292, May.
    4. Ronald Schettkat, 2018. "The Behavioral Economics of John Maynard Keynes," Schumpeter Discussion Papers sdp18007, Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal, University Library.
    5. Mariana Mazzucato & Caetano C.R. Penna, 2016. "Beyond market failures: the market creating and shaping roles of state investment banks," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 305-326, October.
    6. Wray L. Randall, 2013. "What Do Banks Do? What Should Banks Do? A Minskian Perspective," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 1-35, April.
    7. Charles Whalen, 2011. "Minsky Goes to Buffalo—and Takes on the Economics Establishment," Forum for Social Economics, Springer;The Association for Social Economics, vol. 40(2), pages 273-280, July.
    8. Christine Sinapi, 2011. "Institutional Prerequisites of Financial Fragility within Minsky's Financial Instability Hypothesis: A Proposal in Terms of 'Institutional Fragility'," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_674, Levy Economics Institute.
    9. Juan Rafael Ruiz & Patricia Stupariu & Ángel Vilariño, 2024. "The weakest links in the crisis of the Spanish Savings Banks," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 654-664, January.
    10. Laurie Laybourn-Langton & Laurie Macfarlane & Michael Jacobs, 2019. "The Times They Are A-Changing? Exploring the potential shift away from the neoliberal political-economic paradigm," Working Papers 2, Forum New Economy, revised Jun 2020.
    11. Charles Whalen, 2011. "Minsky Goes to Buffalo—and Takes on the Economics Establishment," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 273-280, January.
    12. Elisabetta De Antoni, 2012. "The General Theory after the subprime crisis: a Minskyan perspective," Chapters, in: Jesper Jespersen & Mogens Ove Madsen (ed.), Keynes’s General Theory for Today, chapter 9, pages 151-166, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Iancu, Aurel, 2011. "Models of Financial System Fragility," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(1), pages 230-256, March.

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