Anders Schneiderman complained about the lack of accessible
work from the left on issues of finance, monetary policy, the
casino society, the dictatorship of the bond market, etc. May I
suggest a few references in addition to Doug Henwood's excellent
coverage in Left Business Observer? The first is Dollars and
Sense, which covers these issues regularly, and has collected some
of relevant articles in "Real World Banking" and "Real World
Macro." The other--and here I am descending into brazen self-
promotion, but what the hell--is a new M.E. Sharpe book sponsored
by the Economic Policy Institute called "Transforming the U.S.
Financial System," edited by Jerry Epstein, Gary Dymski and myself.
The purpose of the project from which the book emerged was
precisely to address the issue posed by Schneiderman, i.e. "why
anyone worried about the plight of the homeless, the environment,
etc. should worry about the bond market or any of the rest of it."
The contents of the book are as follows:
1. "Introduction", by Gary Dymski, Jerry Epstein and Robert Pollin
Part I: Monetary Policy and Interest Rates
2. "The Federal Reserve Under Clinton," by James Galbraith
3. "Monetary Policy, Financial Structure and Investment," by
Steven Fazzari
4. "Monetary Policy in the 1990s: Overcoming the Barriers to
Equity and Growth," by Gerald Epstein
Part II. Banking and Financial Regulation
5. "How to Rebuild the U.S. Financial Structure: Level the Playing
Field and Renew the Social Contract," by Gary Dymski
6. "The Evolution of the Financial System and the Possibilities
of Reform," by Martin Wolfson
7. "The Parallel Banking System," by Jane D'Arista and Tom
Schlesinger
8. "No More Bank Bailouts: A Proposal for Deposit Insurance
Reform," Jane D'Arista
9. "Banks, Communities and Public Policy," by James Campen
Part III. Financial Markets and Productive Investment
10. "Do U.S. Financial Markets Allocate Credit Efficiently? The
Case of Corporate Restructuring in the 1980s," by James Crotty
and Don Goldstein
11. "Pension Funds, Capital Markets, and the Economic Future," by
Randy Barber and Teresa Ghilarducci
12. "Public Credit Allocation through the Federal Reserve: Why It
is Needed; How it Should be Done," by Robert Pollin.
If I may continue this brazen self-promotion, here is the
endorsement of Ann Markusen of Rutgers University:
"Finally, a book which gives us sophisticated explanations for
all those murky financial issues--why we are in debt, who's
benefiting from stagnation, why low interest rates are not going
to 'grow' the economy. These authors show banks don't know best,
documenting the sour fruits of deregulation and merger mania. They
demonstrate why the deficit is not the problem. Best of all, they
propose a stunningly simple and effective financial strategy which
would do for us now what the Reconstruction Finance Corporation,
credit unions, savings and loan, and new home and farm mortgage
institutions did for us in the 1930s--set us on the road to a
reinvigorated economy."
The book is available in paperback from M.E. Sharpe, 80
Business Park Drive, Armonk, NY 10504, for $20.
-- Bob Pollin
