Globalization: the House that Finance Built

  • Ann Pettifor
Chapter

Abstract

How did we get here? How did Anglo-American economies build up the mountains of debt and the historically high deficits that now threaten to destabilize the global economy? Our international financial system was, until relatively recently, stable, equitable and fair. Lending and borrowing was under control, with high rates of saving in OECD countries. Income inequality was at its lowest. The crisis of the 1920s and 1930s had taught western societies grave lessons about the folly of allowing ‘the moneylenders to take over the temple’ — the main theme of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inaugural speech, in 1933 — at the height of the international financial crisis.

Keywords

Interest Rate Central Bank International Monetary Fund Money Supply Real Interest Rate 
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© Ann Pettifor 2006

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  • Ann Pettifor

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