A member of our teaching faculty has recently published a new book questioning whether the finance sector remains the true culprit for capitalism’s toxic effects.

Dr Nicholas Bernards’ fourth book (published by Pluto Press) is titled Fictions of Financialization: Rethinking Speculation, Exploitation and Twenty-First-Century Capitalism, and explores whether the financial sector has been unfairly blamed for the negative impacts of capitalism - from growing inequality to the housing crises and destruction of the environment.

Dr Bernards discusses the flaws and limitations within the populist argument that simply confronting the financial elite will fix the economy, highlighting how risk and speculation play core roles in the operation of all capital and not just within the financial sector. Adopting a Marxist approach, the book explores the interconnection between capitalism's uneven exploitation of labour and nature and financial capital to lay the groundwork for a much-needed view of the real powers of finance.

The book has already been endorsed by several leading political economy experts, including Jack Copley, Angela Wigger, Alexis Moraitis, and author of Money Power and Financial Capital in Emerging Markets Ilias Alami, who commented:

'Incisive, politically engaged, and theoretically sophisticated, ‘Fictions of Financialization’ is a major critical contribution to debates on financialization. Bernards sets the record straight and makes a powerful case for recentring the exploitation of labour and nature in analyses of the powers of finance in contemporary capitalism. A must read for anyone concerned with the prospects of a liveable and sustainable future for all on this planet.'

You can find out more about Fictions of Financialization: Rethinking Speculation, Exploitation and Twenty-First-Century Capitalism here. You can also listen to an interview about the book with Dr Bernards here.