Articles
World Bank called to account – The SAPRI report, 20 years on – transcript
An interview with Doug Hellinger of The Development GAP on the report’s significance and lessons for today’s advocacy groups working to change the IMF and World Bank Doug Hellinger and
World Bank called to account – The SAPRI report, 20 years on
Rick Rowden talks to Doug Hellinger, the leader of a groundbreaking probe into World Bank programmes in the developing world, about the initiative’s significance and its lessons for today’s advocacy
Austerity in Brazil – the dangerous cuts
Neoliberal policies have infected both arms of politics in Brazil and its people are falling sick. Diogo Mazeron writes. After a very close and polarised election at the end of
All round sound investments
Investment droughts in energy generate conflict and misery in the Global South and fuel a flood of migration while impairing bids for sustainability. Prashant Vaze calls on advanced economies to
Local lucre, little interest
Why did a bid in Bristol to create a city currency fold? Diana Finch tells the tale. When the Bristol Pound came onto the scene, it commanded worldwide attention. It
Might clubbing – summary
Interview with Gerald Epstein about his book Busting the Bankers’ Club Key Takeaways The “Bankers Club” (financial industry and supporters) has strengthened significantly since the Great Depression, making financial reform
Don’t bank on size
Credit unions are huge in Canada. Guy Dauncey explains why the UK government might look to the world’s second-largest country to guide its bid for a more cooperative economy. 2022
A local lifeline
As developing nations sink in overseas debt, Bruno Bonizzi describes why local currency debt may be part of the solution. After a decade of sustained growth, Ghana defaulted on its
Was Truss on the money?
Dirk Ehnts suggests that Liz Truss’s downfall may have not been because she was wrong. Shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said in 2021 that delaying tackling climate breakdown would be at
Can finance save polar bears?
Frederic Hache questions proposals that perpetual growth can be made sustainable by planting trees. In an article published by Le Monde in December, 2023, the President of the French Republic,
Go West
The developed world’s delivery on commitments to help pull the poorest countries out of their tailspin into destitution is arguably as crucial as it is unlikely. Niko Humalisto suggests reflection.
Helping hand outs
Tom Neumark shares the value of giving where terms and conditions don’t apply. Having recently gone blind, Beatrice was not able to see her grandson’s diarrhoea on the packed-dirt floor
Too Big to Succeed?
Is a coalition of more than 500 financial firms fit to race against climate change? Willy Diddens looks at the form. In April 2021, the UN Special Envoy on Climate
Fighting inflation with flat-earth monetary policy
Blair Fix puts interest rates to the test in the treatment of inflation and raises a laugh. Advances in science almost invariably arise from questioning received wisdom — taking ideas
All or nothing
Environmental, Social and Governance thinks it’s an adjective but tries to be a noun. Jason Miklian and John E. Katsos explain why it means so much more. Or less. Joe
The Alchemy of value
An excerpt from Serious Money: walking plutocratic London by Caroline Knowles Quant seems apprehensive as he arrives at the trendy east London Shoreditch bar, Looking Glass, where I am waiting,
Farming carbon
Dr Mandy Stoker tells how captured carbon is neither black gold nor a guaranteed green deal. The 5,000 trees we planted seven years ago are bursting into leaf. They have
Roadblock or drive-through?
Canada’s bid to protect its democracy by corralling informal funding groups could have unintended outcomes counter to its aims. James Patriquin and Caroline Shenaz Hossein explain. Between 28 January and
David never beats Goliath
The economic impact of war in Ukraine will tighten the screw on people who have endured assault for decades under a lauded financial regime, says Grimot Nane. Russia’s invasion of
Pensions get the green-lite
Why better pensions help the climate – Bruno Bonizzi explains. In October 2021, two UK-based academics, Dr Neil Davies and Dr Ewan McGaughey, issued proceedings against the directors of the
Where is credit due?
Nick Bernards looks at financial solutions to poverty and their remarkable durability. In 2019, World Bank vice president for equitable growth, finance and institutions, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, sang the virtues of
Three steps out of a fix
Rick Rowden offers a trio of measures to overhaul a creaking global financial system Thanks to the historically ambitious scale of their fiscal and monetary policies, most of the rich
Having it all
Could private funding actually benefit nature? Henry Leveson-Gower proposes a cooperative approach. Since the 80s environmental economists have been putting monetary values on nature so they get “counted”. Now they
Is This Financial Capitalism’s Final Assault?
Willy Diddens explains how beauty is in the eye of the investor. On September 14, 2021, the New York Stock Exchange presented a new financial instrument that could lead to
Susan Strange saw the financial crisis coming, Your Majesty
Nat Dyer gives the late Professor Susan Strange credit for having the answers and argues she deserves still more. There is something odd about one of the iconic stories we
Cash crops
Henry Leveson-Gower looks at how local food currencies might bear fruit. Our food system is deeply dysfunctional. Economic forces drive it to deliver unhealthy food, while trashing the environment so
Who will save the world?
Raj Thamotheram is, in theory, betting on pension funds. Covid has transformed global politics and the Omicron variant has caused markets to tumble. Meanwhile COP26 failed to address, adequately, the
Living off a box of chocolates
Private equity in the care sector is thriving on growing demand and dwindling state provision. Vivek Kotecha asks whether its sweet tooth for debt might not bode well for its
A green light
Mark Davis introduces a local investment vehicle that he says could help local communities achieve Net Zero. Two-thirds of UK councils have declared a Climate Emergency. They have set ambitious
Lose change
There’s a digital revolution in money on the way. Barry James reports. A major new disruption to global monetary systems, perhaps the greatest yet, is moving in fast from left
Interviews
World Bank called to account – The SAPRI report, 20 years on – transcript
An interview with Doug Hellinger of The Development GAP on the report’s significance and lessons for today’s advocacy groups working to change the IMF and World Bank Doug Hellinger and
Might clubbing – summary
Interview with Gerald Epstein about his book Busting the Bankers’ Club Key Takeaways The “Bankers Club” (financial industry and supporters) has strengthened significantly since the Great Depression, making financial reform
Might clubbing
Gerald Epstein is an unusual academic; he is also a Bankers’ Club Buster, by which he means someone who is part of the US movement to bust up the power
The wall of money
Anne Pettifor, veteran campaigner, economist and author, has a mission, possibly her last one before retiring to her garden. She wants people to understand better how global financial markets, particularly
Inclusive banking – a teller’s tale
Tony learnt his trade in banks starting from the shop floor. He then decided he wanted to create a bank that helped small enterprises in Nigeria who were excluded by
Bad grammar?
British academic, and ecological economist, based in Vienna, Clive Spash, was one of the few expert voices who openly and scathingly criticised the recent Dasgupta Review. The 600-page review by
A new class act
Douglas Eger is an environmentalist and a serial entrepreneur. He is looking to bring together these two strands of his career in a new venture to create a new asset
The biggest issue
Professor Jane D’Arista’s broad and deep expertise spans monetary policy and regulation. Rick Rowden asked her some large-scale questions about the global economy for The Mint. The Mint: What are your
Theoretically speaking
Randy Wray was one of the finalists for our #NotTheNobel prize in October and is one of the world’s leading advocates of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). It might sound like
Rick Bookstaber Interview: A model agent
Mainstream economics’ failure to predict the 2008 crash undermined the profession’s public credibility. There’s a new game in town that financial risk guru, Rick Bookstaber, has faith in. He shares
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Columns
World Bank called to account – The SAPRI report, 20 years on – transcript
An interview with Doug Hellinger of The Development GAP on the report’s significance and lessons for today’s advocacy groups working to change the IMF and World Bank Doug Hellinger and
Prison food
Thieves and vagabonds with hellfire and damnation: would you like fries with that? The world is becoming increasingly topsy-turvy. The economic policy agenda now includes industrial policy, trade restrictions, and
At the flip of a billion coins
Can finance provide what humanity needs? As we approach 1.5ºC average warming, nature collapses, and conflicts escalate, this must be a reasonable question. Or is it naïve as finance is
Might clubbing – summary
Interview with Gerald Epstein about his book Busting the Bankers’ Club Key Takeaways The “Bankers Club” (financial industry and supporters) has strengthened significantly since the Great Depression, making financial reform
Paradigm Shift
Our collective memories of the lessons learned from wars and crises past have faded. Frances Coppola looks for future guidance. The longer our financial and economic system goes without a
Pecked to death
Frances Coppola on the power of salacious rumour. On Friday 10th March, a bank died. Silicon Valley Bank’s sudden failure sent shockwaves across the world. How could an apparently sound
From bank vaults to the crypt
The Coppola column Crypto currencies are dead. Long live the crypto currency? The crypto industry has had a terrible year. The prices of cryptocurrencies have crashed and major crypto companies
Ground control
Control of land has been a key driver of wealth, power and conflict for most of human history. The industrial revolution changed all that as power shifted from landowners to
What’s love got to do with it?
Broken trust has to be fixed. Frances Coppola explains why there is no substitute. The foundation of human society is trust. Right from the start of their lives, humans trust
Defunding the past
The time has come to pucker up and give Trump a kiss. Our collective sanity is being assailed by an unrelenting locust-swarm media and the groaning end of a socioeconomic
Banking off road
Don’t consult the map while making a handbrake turn. What an unreality of a year so far. Society has done a handbrake turn and we are hurtling in an unmapped
Mutual Understanding
Tony Greenham left the world of thinktanks and discussion on new economics in 2018 to get his hands dirty in doing it for real. He is now leading a project
A rent-seeking bastard speaks
As isolation and social difference goes viral, it’s time to come together. As the state cavalry charges over the hill to save us all from the viral hordes could March
Books
World Bank called to account – The SAPRI report, 20 years on – transcript
An interview with Doug Hellinger of The Development GAP on the report’s significance and lessons for today’s advocacy groups working to change the IMF and World Bank Doug Hellinger and
Might clubbing – summary
Interview with Gerald Epstein about his book Busting the Bankers’ Club Key Takeaways The “Bankers Club” (financial industry and supporters) has strengthened significantly since the Great Depression, making financial reform
Sharks are eating the whales
Alex Kozul-Wright reviews The Value of a Whale by Adrienne Buller, Manchester Press (2022) and The Finance Curse by Nicholas Shaxson, Penguin Random House (2018). Though distinct in their focus,
The Parasite that is consuming the World
Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s Crises (2023), by Marjorie Kelly with foreword by Edgar Villanueva. Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, ISBN 9781523004775.
Debt crisis: paradox or plain wrong?
Guy Dauncey says we can dig ourselves out of the accumulating mountain of private debt but a lot needs to change. The Paradox of Debt is a new book by
The Bank of England’s deceptive guide to economics
Guy Dauncey reviews Can’t We Just Print More Money? Economics in Ten Simple Questions, by Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning, Bank of England. Two economists from the Bank of England
Gone for broke
The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy by Christopher Leonard. Review by Guy Dauncey Every healthy economy has a financial immune system to protect
How to fix the global economy – in 142 pages
The authors provide a step-by-step guide to the main overarching structural changes that are needed to better address climate change and enable a more economically-just and financially-stable world. Review by
Financial Inclusion
From the publisher: Should the public play a greater role within the financial system? Decisions about money are a part of our everyday lives. Supporters promote financial inclusion as a
Seeking Virtue in Finance
From the publisher: Since the Global Financial Crisis, a surge of interest in the use of finance as a tool to address social and economic problems suggests the potential for
A cross-field punt
A novelist and a mathematician have combined forces to produce a fictional account of the Lehman Brothers’ crash that injects life into soulless corners of financial teaching reading lists. Review
Sabotage: The Business of Finance
From the Publisher: Financial malpractice, we’re told, is an aberration: the actions of a few bad apples deviating from the norms of a market-governed process and gaming the system. In
A World Without Work
From the Publisher: New technologies have always provoked panic about workers being replaced by machines. In the past, such fears have been misplaced, and many economists maintain that they remain
Mutant Neoliberalism
From the Publisher: Tales of neoliberalism’s death are serially overstated. Following the financial crisis of 2008, neoliberalism was proclaimed a “zombie,” a disgraced ideology that staggered on like an undead
Event Recordings
World Bank called to account – The SAPRI report, 20 years on – transcript
An interview with Doug Hellinger of The Development GAP on the report’s significance and lessons for today’s advocacy groups working to change the IMF and World Bank Doug Hellinger and
Might clubbing – summary
Interview with Gerald Epstein about his book Busting the Bankers’ Club Key Takeaways The “Bankers Club” (financial industry and supporters) has strengthened significantly since the Great Depression, making financial reform
Sabotage and Covid-19
Financial malpractice, we’re told, is an aberration: the actions of a few bad apples deviating from the norms of a market-governed process and gaming the system. Anastasia Nesvetailova and Ronen
Holding Corporations to Account: towards an Economic Democracy?
We take it for granted that we get to vote in elections, but that is of course a relatively recent innovation. Universal suffrage only occurred in 1928. However most of
Basic Income and Universal Basic Services: conflicting or complementary?
Two distinct ideas are being promoted to help fix Britain’s broken social security system and badly depleted public services. The first idea – of basic income (BI) – seeks a
Is a Green New Deal the answer?
Since the idea of a Green New Deal was taken up by the newly elected, social media savvy US congress woman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez known as AOC, it has generated a
10 Years after: Testimony from the Crash
The following is based on the actual testimony of real people who were affected by the Crash in different ways. It was performed as an improvised piece by Annee Blott