The preoccupation of financial theory with static, timeless, equilibrium analysis has given rise to an orthodoxy that avoids the problems of uncertainty in the world. This work establishes new perspectives from which contemporary financial theory can be evaluated. Echoing Keynes' observation that "Human decisions . . . cannot depend on strict mathematical expectation," Douglas Vickers explains why most decisions in economics and finance are not made under conditions to which the calculus of probability applies. The author proposes a "new realism" in financial theory that takes into account the uncertainty in personal and economic decisions. Both business firms and financial investors, he contends, acquire an important perspective on their alternatives by focusing on the transitional, disequilibrium processes in financial markets rather than on their sup­ posed equilibrium conditions. This involves for economic decisions an understanding of "time" as "historic" in a genuine operational sense rather than as merely a logical variable. The notion of probability should be replaced by that of possibility, the concept that the British economist G. L. S. Shackle has called "potential surprise." In Part I, Vickers' innovative approach leads to a careful study of the "false trading" that occurs in real and financial markets. Part II provides an exposition and an evaluation of the equilibrium theory of financial asset prices. The new analytical apparatus is applied in Part Ill to investment decision making in the firm and to the choice of financial asset portfolios, as well as to the questions of asset trading and changes in portfolio composition. A scholarly and constructive work, Financial Markets in the Capitalist Process will generate controversy among professionals and debate among students for many years to come.

Capitalism’s biggest problem is the executive in pinstripes who extols the virtues of competitive markets with every breath while attempting to extinguish them with every action. Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists is a groundbreaking book that will radically change our understanding of the capitalist system, particularly the role of financial markets. They are the catalyst for inspiring human ingenuity and spreading prosperity. The perception of many, especially in the wake of never-ending corporate scandals, is that financial markets are parasitic institutions that feed off the blood, sweat, and tears of the rest of us. The reality is far different. •Vibrant financial markets threaten the sclerotic corporate establishment and increase corporate mobility and opportunity. They are the reason why entrepreneurship flourishes and companies like The Home Depot and Wal-Mart—mere fly specks a quarter of a century ago—have surged as they have. •They mean personal freedom and economic development for more people. Throughout history, and in most of the world today, the record is one of financial oppression. Elites restrict access to capital and severely limit not only general economic development but that of individuals as well. •Open borders help check the political and economic elites and preserve competitive markets. The greatest danger of the antiglobalization movement is that it will keep the rich rich and the poor poor. Globalization forces countries to do what is necessary to make their economies productive, not what is best for incumbent elites. Open borders limit the ability of domestic politics to close down competition and to retard financial and economic growth. •Markets are especially susceptible in economic downturns when the establishment can exploit public anger to restrict competition and access to capital. While markets must be free to practice “creative destruction,” Rajan and Zingales demonstrate the political and economic importance of a sustainable distribution of wealth and a baseline safety net. Capitalism needs a heart for its own good! There are no iron laws of economics that condemn countries like Bangladesh to perpetual poverty or the United States to perpetual prosperity. The early years of the twentieth century saw vibrant, open financial markets that were creating widespread prosperity. Then came the “Great Reversal” during the Great Depression. It can—and will—happen again, unless there is greater understanding of what markets do, who benefits, and who really wants to either limit them or shut them down. Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists breaks free of traditional ideological arguments of the right and left and points to a new way of understanding and spreading the extraordinary wealth-generating capabilities of capitalism.

Finance and Development, June 2015.

Despite creating vast inequalities and propping up reactionary world regimes, capitalism has many passionate defenders—but not because of what it withholds from some and gives to others. Capitalism dominates, Todd McGowan argues, because it mimics the structure of our desire while hiding the trauma that the system inflicts upon it. People from all backgrounds enjoy what capitalism provides, but at the same time are told more and better is yet to come. Capitalism traps us through an incomplete satisfaction that compels us after the new, the better, and the more. Capitalism's parasitic relationship to our desires gives it the illusion of corresponding to our natural impulses, which is how capitalism's defenders characterize it. By understanding this psychic strategy, McGowan hopes to divest us of our addiction to capitalist enrichment and help us rediscover enjoyment as we actually experienced it. By locating it in the present, McGowan frees us from our attachment to a better future and the belief that capitalism is an essential outgrowth of human nature. From this perspective, our economic, social, and political worlds open up to real political change. Eloquent and enlivened by examples from film, television, consumer culture, and everyday life, Capitalism and Desire brings a new, psychoanalytically grounded approach to political and social theory.

A unique insight into the interaction between the state, financiers and entrepreneurs in the modern innovation economy.

Geert Reuten offers a systematic exposition of the capitalist system, showing that the capitalist economy and the capitalist state constitute a unity.

Covers the basic workings of capitalism, how it came to dominate the world, and why it resulted in a financial crisis in 2008, arguing that a radical overhaul of the economic system is the only way to create a sustainable future.

Applying the new economics of organisation and relational theories of the firm to the problem of understanding cross-national variation in the political economy, this volume elaborates a new understanding of the institutional differences that characterise the 'varieties of capitalism' worldwide.

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