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The Bailout State

Why Governments Rescue Banks, Not People

Martijn Konings

$103.95

Hardback

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English
Polity Press
19 March 2025
How did we end up in a world where social programs are routinely cut in the name of market discipline and fiscal austerity, yet large banks get bailed out whenever they get into trouble?

In The Bailout State, Martijn Konings exposes the inner workings of this sprawling infrastructure of government guarantees. Backstopping financial markets and securing banks’ balance sheets, this contemporary Leviathan manages the inflationary pressures that its generosity produces by tightening the financial screws on the rest of the population.   To a large extent, the bailout state was built by progressives seeking to buttress the institutions of the early postwar period. The resulting tide of capital gains fostered an asset-centered politics that experienced its heyday in the nineties. But ever since the financial crisis of 2007-08, promises of inclusive economic growth have looked increasingly thin. A colossus locked in place, the bailout state disburses its benefits to a rapidly shrinking group of property owners.  Against the backdrop of a ferocious post-pandemic turn to anti-inflationary policy, the only remaining way to exit the logic of the bailout, Konings argues, is to challenge the monetary drivers at the heart of capitalist society.
By:  
Imprint:   Polity Press
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 221mm,  Width: 142mm,  Spine: 25mm
Weight:   454g
ISBN:   9781509564316
ISBN 10:   1509564314
Pages:   272
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Martijn Konings is Professor of Political Economy and Social Theory at the University of Sydney.

Reviews for The Bailout State: Why Governments Rescue Banks, Not People

“The Bailout State is a timely intervention that adds important historical context to recent debates on the de-risking state. Where critiques of neoliberalism have proven ineffective, the book charts a new approach to make sense of our current condition through financial claims on property.” Nils Peters, London School of Economics “This book connects dots that desperately need connecting for those who want to understand the crisis of national economic policy and of democratic legitimacy in the world today. Its scathing description of how US government policy has, since the 1970s, tilted toward bailing out privileged sectors – especially politically protected banks and shadow banks – even while falling wages and the rising cost of living hollowed out its income distribution. While the bailout of too-big-to-fail banks in the 2008 crisis is well known, this volume shows how ‘bailout state’ policies have been prominent features of United States policy for the past 40 years.” Gary Dymski, University of Leeds


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