Engelen, E: After the Great Complacence

Introduction; 1 After the Great Complacence: the Challenge of the Undisclosed and the Mystified; Section I: Not as it seems: Financial Innovation and the Undisclosed; 2 Derivatives: Conjuncture, Bricolage, and Circuits; 3 Hedge Funds and Private Equity as War Machines; 4 Banking for Themselves: the Transaction Generating Machine; Section 2: Beyond Democratic Control? Mystified Politics Before and After the Crisis; 5 Mystification Undermines Regulation Before 2007; 6 Closure: Distributive Coalition vs. Democratic Opening; 7 In Charge? Political Classes and Technocratic Elites; Conclusion; 8 What is To Be Done? Mobilising for Simpler, Sustainable Finance

Ewald Engelen, University of Amsterdam;Ismail Erturk, Centre for Research in Socio-Cultural Change and Manchester Business School, University of Manchester;Julie Froud, Centre for Research in Socio-Cultural Change and Manchester Business School, University of Manchester;Sukhdev Johal, Department of Management, Royal Holloway;Adam Leaver, Centre for Research in Socio-Cultural Change and Manchester Business School, University of Manchester;Mick Moran, Centre for Research in Socio-Cultural Change and Manchester Business School, University of Manchester;Adriana Nilsson, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Research in Socio-Cultural Change and Manchester Business School, University of Manchester;Karel Williams, Centre for Research in Socio-Cultural Change and Manchester Business School, University of Manchester

[A]n interesting and thought-provoking read for academics, practitioners and interested lay readers alike. Liam Stanley, Political Studies Review Masterly ... should be read by every policy-maker currently engaged in the rhetoric of "rebalancing". Paul Mason, The Guardian A very important book ... an indispensible tool to counter the propaganda of the City and its friends in politics and the media. Ian Sinclair, Tribune It's excellent and important. Absolutely essential reading for anyone wanting to understand how Britain's financial sector got out of control ... a landmark in this field. Nick Shaxson, author of the Treasure Island There have been many books about the financial crisis but very few as original and incisive as this one. This is a book which really ought to be read not only by academics but also by industry representatives and policy makers in order to make sure that the kind of hubris displayed in the early 2000s, born out of a curious mixture of elite miscalculation and misbegotten premises, never again becomes an article of faith. Nigel Thrift, Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick With the post-crisis financial reform process at an impasse the book looks at the historical causes of the crisis. Its focus on elite power control of central banking and regulation is a refreshing alternative to macro-economic narratives. This is essential and disturbing reading for anybody concerned about the relationship between financial power and democracy. Paul Mason, Economics Editor, BBC Newsnight By taking a sideways swipe at the idea of the period before the financial crisis being the "great moderation" this book provides a convincing narrative for this being the "great complacence" instead. It suggests that this was a period of unprecedented hubris on the part of the political and economic elites, and that the resulting crisis was not an accident, not a disaster, not a catastrophe, nor a fiasco, but a genuine political debacle. The book argues that elites