Financialisation and the New Swedish Model

Belfrage, Claes; Kallifatides, Markus

doi:10.1093/cje/bex089

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Yet, such anxieties were as evident in Britain, with its larger welfare state, as in the US. Further research could assess whether more extensive welfare states in parts of Western Europe and Scandinavia provide a stronger buffer, although financialization and private ‘asset-based welfare’ is increasingly evident even there, and such safety nets protect employment income more than household assets (Aalbers, 2016; Belfrage and Kallifatides, 2018).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The financialization of mass wealth, banking crises and politics over the long run

Chwieroth

Walter

2019

European Journal of International Relations

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The co-evolution of democratic politics and mass, financialized wealth has destabilized highly integrated financial systems and the socio-political underpinnings of neoliberal policy norms at domestic and global levels. Over the long run, it has increased the political pressure on governments to undertake bailouts during major banking crises and, by raising voters’ attentiveness to wealth losses and distributional inequities, has sharply raised the bar for government performance. The result has been more costly bailouts, greater political instability and the sustained politicization of wealth cleavages in crisis aftermaths. We underline the crucial importance and modernity of this phenomenon by showing how the high concentration of wealth in pre-1914 Britain and America among elites was associated with limited crisis interventions and surprisingly tranquil political aftermaths. By contrast, the 2007–2009 crises in both countries epitomise the political dilemmas facing elected governments in a new world of mass financialized wealth and the impact on political polarization and democratic politics. We show that these dilemmas were embryonic in the interwar period and highlight how the evolutionary forces shaping policy and political outcomes reveal the importance of time, context and the effects of long cycles in the world economy and global politics.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The financialization of mass wealth, banking crises and politics over the long run

Chwieroth

Walter

2019

European Journal of International Relations

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“…Meanwhile, political concerns were raised about the long period of stagflation during the 1970s; with the decreasing effectiveness of existing systems for financial regulation, there were fears that large multinational companies would move their businesses abroad. Both public and political debate was marked by the concern that Sweden would become economically outcompeted and isolated, while the rest of the developed world became increasingly integrated (Belfrage 2008, Crouch 2009, Stenfors 2014, Belfrage and Kallifatides 2017. Of course, this kind of political discussion was not unique to Sweden, but it mirrored the political and academic conflict elsewhere over which economic theory should replace the increasingly contested Keynesian theory.…”

Section: Tracing the Problematic Financial Citizen And The Articulation Of Financial Education As The Solutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, these crucial reforms were realized with little public or political resistance. The absence of resistance may even seem surprising against the backdrop of Sweden having been a pioneer of Keynesian economic policy (Belfrage and Ryner 2009, Stenfors 2014, Belfrage and Kallifatides 2017.…”

Section: Tracing the Problematic Financial Citizen And The Articulation Of Financial Education As The Solutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The problematization of consumers in Swedish financial literacy education

Pettersson

2021

Cultural Studies

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Using the concept of problematization, this paper reveals the rationale for governing consumers in the practice of Swedish financial literacy education. Before the 1980s, the problematization of consumers was characterized by teaching economic thrift to 'at-risk groups'. Through observations of and interviews with teachers and organizers, as well as analyzes of policy texts, this study shows that contemporary financial education instead describes a whole population of consumers lacking 'financial self-confidence'. This study also shows how social, political, and economic developments prompted the problematization of the previously unnoticed issue of Swedish citizens' 'financial literacy'. Neo-liberal ideas and reforms, financialization, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's promotion of financial literacy are all strong factors in the current problematization of Swedish consumers and the ongoing practice of financial education. Financial education attempts to foster economically rational, responsible, self-reliant financial citizens; in other words, it seeks to make people more like the 'virtual consumer' of neo-classic economic theory. The ideal consumer of contemporary financial education is expected to turn to financial markets to ensure his or her economic welfare. Doing so is assumed to lead consumers to contribute to efficient and stable global and national financial markets. However, consistent with the local problematization of Swedish consumers as having diverse problems and needs in relation to finance, such education is adjusted to fit different categories of consumers. While some are said to require financial 'inspiration' to become active and engaged financial consumers, the traditional morality of thrift still characterizes financial education tailored for consumers deemed to be at risk of over-indebtedness.

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“…Equally, in Sweden in the postwar period, the finance ministry and the politically steered central bank did not hesitate to approach a semi-planned economy, with very strong regulation of profits and investments (Pontusson 1992); Katzenstein (1985, 61) in a classic study refers to this as 'indicative planning' while noting that in Norway, interventionism was even more advanced. In both France and Sweden, and especially in Sweden (Belfrage and Kallifatides 2018), such regulations and planning institutions have been dismantled since the early 1980 s. Thus, we have good reasons to expect different financial effects between countries and across time, especially on investment.…”

Section: The Country Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financial effects in historic consumption and investment functions

Stockhammer

Bengtsson

2020

International Review of Applied Economics

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The global financial crisis has highlighted the importance of financial factors on economic performance. Most of the existing research analyses the contemporary experience, and especially the 1980 s onwards. This paper investigates the effects of stock prices, real estate prices and debt on consumption and investment expenditures by estimating consumption and investment equations for about 110 years of data for Britain, France, Norway and Sweden. We find positive debt effects on consumption in three of four countries, but no consistent effects of stock prices and house prices. Effects on consumption are stronger in the more market-based economy of Britain than in the more state-oriented economies of France, Norway and Sweden: in Britain but not in the other countries, consumption has increased in response to stock and house prices. We find positive effects of stock prices on investment in all four countries. Credit expansion boosts investment in some of the countries while house prices seem to have become more influential for investment after 1980. The results indicate that there is interesting variation in financial effects over time, and point forward for possible research on the interaction between financial variables and the real economy since the early twentieth century. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Financialisation and the New Swedish Model

Cited by 23 publications

References 45 publications

The financialization of mass wealth, banking crises and politics over the long run

The financialization of mass wealth, banking crises and politics over the long run

The problematization of consumers in Swedish financial literacy education

Financial effects in historic consumption and investment functions

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