Governing Financialization

The penetration of finance into every aspect of modern life is a central feature of our times. In this arresting new analysis and based on extensive archival research Jack Copley shows how financialization in Britain developed in the 1970s and 1980s not because of a long-term plan to impose it, but as a series of pragmatic responses to particular political problems which reflected perennial governing dilemmas of managing a capitalist economy. This book makes a major contribution to our understanding of policy change and policy outcomes in contemporary political economies. * Andrew Gamble, Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield * Jack Copley's outstanding book argues against the grain of contemporary analyses of financialization and public policy. Its central theme is the limitations and constraints on state action which arise from the global flow of money. It makes its case by carrying forward the most advanced thinking on the critique of political economy. This is an exquisitely argued book. * Werner Bonefeld, Professor of Politics, University of York * If you think you already know all you need to about financialization, think again. Through meticulously detailed archival research Jack Copley pieces together the decisions through which financializing dynamics were first inserted into the British economy in the 1970s and 1980s. He shows that there was no grand plan, no careful step-by-step introduction of a pre-determined long-term reform trajectory, only governments attempting to navigate their way in a hit-and-miss manner through a seemingly intractable crisis of profitability. The exquisite reconstruction of events as they unfolded in real time makes for a thrilling read, as well as for a very important book. * Matthew Watson, Professor of Political Economy, University of Warwick *