Diverging Capitalisms

Britain, the City of London and Europe

herausgegeben von: Colin Hay, Daniel Bailey

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Building a Sustainable Political Economy: SPERI Research & Policy

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten

Über dieses Buch

This book analyses the changing nature of the British economy and the consequences of Brexit upon its place within the European economic space. The overhang from the global financial crisis, the Eurozone crisis, the political negotiation of prolonged economic downturn and now the spectre of ‘Brexit’ provide the backdrop for various forms of capitalist restructuring designed to restore competitiveness and prosperity. This re-structuring has clear implications for existing European growth models, the structural imbalances and inequalities which characterise the British economy, the fortunes of the City of London and competing financial districts internationally, and the prospective strategies of progressive politics in this context. Adopting a broadly critical political economy lens – which gives analytical weight to the relationship between economic and political dynamics – the book will draw on the research of eminent scholars to assess divergence in the foundations of economic competitiveness and their social repercussions.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction: Brexit and European Capitalism—A Parting of the Waves?

Abstract

In the early 1990s it was de rigueur to argue that the challenge of competitiveness in an age of ever greater economic interdependence was likely to put pay to the institutional diversity of capitalism itself, certainly in the western world. Globalisation, in other words, was an agent of convergence like no other—driving down taxation, regulation and welfare spending.

Colin Hay, Daniel Bailey

Chapter 2. After Brexit: The Past and Future of the Anglo-Liberal Model

Abstract

The substantial convergence between British and European capitalisms in the last four decades has been put in question by the vote for Brexit in the 2016 Referendum. This chapter examines the historical contexts which shaped the UK economy and its particular model of Anglo-liberal capitalism, the debates on different models of capitalism and why membership of the EEC was attractive to the UK in the 1960s. The trajectories of the development of the UK political economy from 1942 to 2017 are then outlined, and the major shift in direction under Thatcher and Blair. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the tension between United States and European models of capitalism, the impact of Brexit and the different ways in which the UK might now develop.

Andrew Gamble

Chapter 3. “Pragmatic Adaptation” and the Future of the City of London: Between Globalisation and Brexit

Abstract

The economic, political and social domination of the City of London over any other British socio-economic actors has traditionally been at the core of the debate about “British exceptionalism. In particular, the enduring hegemony of the City of London in the history of British capitalism cannot be separated from its peculiar ties with the Treasury and the Bank of England, often considered at the roots of its “pragmatic adaptation”. This contribution will explore how this “pragmatic adaptation”, relying on the friendly regulatory and economic policies enacted by the British government, will help the City of London adapt to the challenges of globalisation and the changing nature of British relations with the EU.

Leila Simona Talani

Chapter 4. The Limits of the City’s Structural Power: The City’s Offshore Interests and the Brexit Referendum

Abstract

Given the apparent structural power of the City of London and Britain’s finance-led growth model, the decision by David Cameron to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU) appears paradoxical when the dominant firms in the City have a long-standing interest in participating in the European Single Market. This paradox can be explained by the historical relationship of the City to the British state in terms of the offshore currency interests of the City and the particular problems created for the Cameron governments in defending the City by the politicisation by the Eurozone crisis of the City’s status as the offshore financial centre of the euro.

Helen Thompson

Chapter 5. European Union Financial Regulation, Banking Union, Capital Markets Union and the UK

Abstract

Following the international financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis, the European Union (EU) undertook major reforms in three key financial policy areas: financial regulation, Banking Union and Capital Markets Union. This chapter examines the dynamics of these reforms by focusing on the preferences and influence of the United Kingdom (UK) in the policy process. It is argued that the UK has played a variety of roles—‘foot-dragger’, ‘fence-sitter’ and ‘pace-setter’—in the policies under discussion. The (at times considerable) British influence was geared towards the attainment of preferences that were shaped by domestic politics and political economy, first and foremost the interests of the financial services industry and the City of London. The final part of the chapter also briefly discusses Brexit and finance.

Lucia Quaglia

Chapter 6. Integration and Disintegration: Two-Level Games in the EU

Abstract

The centrifugal tendencies of the EU make us aware that our theories of European integration were not formulated to explain disintegration. Furthermore, attempts to explain disintegration, notably the new intergovernmentalism, portray these tendencies as idiosyncratically European and dysfunctional. But we can observe disintegration and collective action failure elsewhere, and not all new institution-building is dysfunctional. This chapter interprets recent EU institution-building and its limits in light of the concept of two-level games, both in its classic instrumental version of Putnam (1988) and in a more recent normative version developed by Bellamy and Weale (2015). Framing the new economic governance of the EU as the result of two-level games can help us see the specific collective action problems of an incomplete union and the general problems of international cooperation.

Waltraud Schelkle

Chapter 7. The UK’s Growth Model, Business Strategy and Brexit

Abstract

The UK’s growth model is characterised by its position as a hub of global finance and its flexible labour market regime. This growth model has been both underpinned and at key moments threatened by the UK’s integration into the European Single Market. Focussing on developments within two key EU policy areas—EU employment policy and Capital Markets Union (CMU)—this chapter argues that British business has attempted to ‘defend’ and ‘extend’ a liberalising agenda inside the EU. The ability of British officials to influence the rules of the Single Market has been a core element of this strategy. Brexit fundamentally undermines this strategic orientation, generating a series of dilemmas for British capital and the UK’s growth model more broadly.

Scott Lavery

Chapter 8. The Bed You Made: Social Democracy and Industrial Policy in the EU

Abstract

This chapter engages critically with the EU’s new common industrial policy initiative and its broader framing within social democratic visions of Europe, and argues that with the particular direction that the new common EU industrial policy is taking, social democracy in the EU, once more, is failing to steer the EU towards a more radical social agenda and to capitalise politically on the ‘deep reforms’ that have recently been announced. The prevailing political project of competitiveness through internal devaluation exacerbates existing structural asymmetries and economic disintegration. As a result, assumptions about a rekindling of ‘social democratic Europe’ through an industrial policy flanked by the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) initiative remain fundamentally flawed.

Angela Wigger, Laura Horn

Chapter 9. Unusual Bedfellows? The IMF, Tackling Inequality and Social Democratic Policy Renewal

Abstract

Methodological nationalism is hard-wired into social democratic thought and practice. The methodological nationalism which characterised the political economy of social democracy as a political movement in the twentieth century is a crucial source of the problems facing social democratic renewal today. This chapter proposes small steps towards social democratic policy thinking beyond the national—focusing on the confluence of interest in tackling inequality between Bretton Woods institutions and European social democracy. It considers the post-crash re-centring of the IMF and the contours of egalitarian policy space. Since the crash, Bretton Woods institutions such as the IMF have taken on the inequality (and jobs) agenda in new and interesting ways. Indeed, they are arguably more visible and vocal campaigners on tackling inequality than many social democratic parties.

Ben Clift

Backmatter

Titel: Diverging Capitalisms
herausgegeben von: Colin Hay
Daniel Bailey
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-03415-3
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03414-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03415-3