"Finance Capitalism" is important for at least one reason. We can learn how poor nations can improve their economic conditions by identifying the causes behind industrial success elsewhere. It is particularly interesting to examine the roles that banks and stock markets play in industrialization. This is not only important to less industrialized nations, but to more advanced nations that could benefit from further economic development. Of course, we cannot merely assume that what worked for Germany will work elsewhere, but careful examination of the role of financial markets and institutions in economic development indicates their importance.



Even if one doubts the universal applicability of finance capitalism (and the ideas behind it), this book is still interesting as a piece of history. Germany rose to the position of a world industrial power through finance capitalism, but then turned to militarism and fascism. Why?



It is also interesting to note that much of the hostility towards financial markets is German in origin. Marx and other German Historicists railed against Finance Capitalism. Other German speaking economists had a more favorable view of finance capitalism (i.e. Schumpeter, Mises...). Why would such a successful system breed such contempt? These are good issues to explore now that finance capitalism is in crises and under political attack. We really do need to put the current crises in context, both in terms of the specific causes of this crisis and in terms of the overall record of finance capitalism.

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