Saving the market from capitalism ideas for an alternative finance

Saving the Market from Capitalism Saving the Market from Capitalism Ideas for an Alternative Finance Massimo Amato and Luca Fantacci Translated by Graham Sells polity This volume was originally published in Italy by Donzelli Editore under the title Come salvare il mercato dal capitalismo © Donzelli Editore, 2012 This English edition © Polity Press, 2014 Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 350 Main Street Malden, MA 02148, USA All rights reserved Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-7256-4(pb) ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-7255-7 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Typeset in 11 on 13 pt Sabon by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Printed and bound in Great Britain by T.J International, Padstow, Cornwall The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.politybooks.com Contents Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 Why Can We Find No Exit from the Crisis? 14 The Global Crisis and the Need to Reform the International Monetary and Financial System 46 The European Crisis and the Need for a New European Payments Union 96 Local Currencies and Local Finance 118 Notes Index 145 152 Acknowledgements When working on the ideas that constitute the substance of this book, we enjoyed the benefit of exchanging views with many people to whom we owe thanks To begin with, our students, and in particular those who attended with growing involvement, enthusiasm and critical sense the last years of the course in ‘History, Institutions and Crisis of the Global Financial System’ at the Bocconi University We must also thank the people who took part in conferences and workshops which we had occasion to attend: it always makes quite an impression to see people of many and varied walks of life who are now compelled willy-nilly to try to get to grips with financial issues, and who are often able to raise questions that are as relevant as they are plain and direct And again, thanks to Jacopo Tondelli and Jacopo Barigazzi, who dedicated space to our contributions in Linkiesta, and to their many readers, always ready with numerous comments: some of the sections assembled here had originally been published in that journal in preliminary versions subsequently modified and completed in the light of the comments Our gratitude also goes to: Luciano Lanza, who allowed us to republish here an article that previously appeared in Libertaria; to Valerio Deambrogio, Lucio Gobbi, Andrea Papetti and Marco Bianchini, with whom we have Acknowledgements vii exchanged views continuously over the last few months; to Luca Larcher, who read the entire manuscript in record time without sparing critical observations; to Jean-Luc Souchet, a leading mutualist and inexhaustible source of advice; to Philippe Mérien and Sandrine Mansour, ever ready to take opportunities for debate and discussion on local currency and, finally, to Abla Bella Banassouh for strong, discreet support The errors and oversimplifications that have doubtless found their way into the text are, however, due solely to our stubbornness M A and L F ... possible, and indeed desirable, to invent new forms Thinking about an alternative means putting one’s mind to another kind of finance, moving on from market finance to finance for the market Finance. .. Saving the Market from Capitalism Saving the Market from Capitalism Ideas for an Alternative Finance Massimo Amato and Luca Fantacci Translated by Graham Sells polity... not a market finance but a finance for the market – is no utopia It is possible to save the market from capitalism, and economic science from ideology There are numerous examples, ancient and modern,