Corporate Ownership of the Public Debt: Mapping the New Aristocracy of Finance by Sandy Brian Hager Socio-Economic Review, July 2015
ABSTRACT: In various writings Karl Marx made references to an ‘aristocracy of finance’ in Western Europe and the United States that dominated ownership of the public debt. Drawing on original research, this article offers the first comprehensive analysis of public debt ownership within the US corporate sector. The research shows that over the past three decades, and especially in the context of the current crisis, a new aristocracy of finance has emerged, as holdings of the public debt have become rapidly concentrated in favor of large corporations classified within Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE). Operationalizing Wolfgang Streeck’s concept of the ‘debt state’, the article goes on to demonstrate how concentration in ownership of the public debt reinforces patterns of social inequality and proceeds in tandem with a shift in government policy, one that prioritizes the interests of government bondholders over the general citizenry. FULL TEXT: http://bnarchives.yorku.ca/448/ *** Recent additions and updates to the Bichler & Nitzan Archives: http://bnarchives.yorku.ca/cgi/latest Free to repost and circulate with due attribution under the Creative Commons License (attribution-noncommercial-no derivative). To unsubscribe, reply to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject field. -- Jonathan Nitzan Political Science || Social and Political Thought York University 4700 Keele St. Toronto, Ontario, M3J-1P3 Canada Voice: (416) 736-2100, ext. 88822 Fax: (416) 736-5686 Email: nitzan at yorku.ca The Bichler & Nitzan Archives:http://bnarchives.net Alternative site:http://yorku.academia.edu/JonathanNitzan Capital as Power:http://capitalaspower.com RECASP (journal):http://lha.uow.edu.au/hsi/research/recasp/articles/index.html RECASP Essay Prize:http://lha.uow.edu.au/hsi/research/recasp/essayprize/index.html _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
