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Beyond Mainstream Explanations of the Financial Crisis Parasitic Finance Capital SPINE 14.5mm ROYAL I Beyond smael Hossein- ROUTLEDGE FRONTIERS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY M zadeh ainstream E xplanations of the F inancial Beyond Mainstream Explanations of the Financial C risis Crisis Parasitic finance capital Ismael Hossein- zadeh ISBN 978-0-415-63806-7 www.routledge.com 9 780415 638067 SPINE 14.5mm Beyond Mainstream Explanations of the Financial Crisis This book provides a critique of the neoclassical explanations of the 2008 finan- cial collapse, of the ensuing long recession and of the neoliberal austerity responses to it. The study argues that while the prevailing views of deregulation and finan- cialization as instrumental culprits in the explosion and implosion of the finan- cial bubble are not false, they fail to point out that financialization is essentially an indication of an advanced stage of capitalist development. These standard explanations tend to ignore the systemic dynamics of the accumulation of finance capital, the inherent limits to that accumulation, production and division of economic surplus, class relations, and the balance of social forces that mold economic policy. Instead of simply blaming the “irrational behavior” of market players, as neo- liberals do, or lax public supervision, as Keynesians do, this book focuses on the core dynamics of capitalist development that not only created the financial bubble, but also fostered the “irrational behavior” of market players and sub- verted public policy. Due to its interdisciplinary perspective, this book will be of interest to stu- dents and researchers in economics, finance, politics and sociology. It will also be of interest (as well as accessible) to “non-expert” lay readers. Ismael Hossein- zadeh is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Drake University, USA. Routledge frontiers of political economy 1 Equilibrium Versus 8 Social Economy Understanding The logic of capitalist development Towards the rehumanization of Clark Everling economics within social theory Mark Addleson 9 New Keynesian Economics/Post Keynesian Alternatives 2 Evolution, Order and Complexity Edited by Roy J. Rotheim Edited by Elias L. Khalil and 10 The Representative Agent in Kenneth E. Boulding Macroeconomics James E. Hartley 3 Interactions in Political Economy Malvern after ten years 11 Borderlands of Economics Edited by Steven Pressman Essays in honour of Daniel R. Fusfeld 4 The End of Economics Edited by Nahid Aslanbeigui and Michael Perelman Young Back Choi 5 Probability in Economics 12 Value, Distribution and Capital Omar F. 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