Written under the shadow of the global financial crisis, this book charts the current shape of global finance and tries to explain why the crisis arose – and what can be done about it. Economics alone cannot fully explain how global finance operates, and why it is so crisis prone. Global Finance offers a wider approach in three key ways, by: setting markets and financial market failure in a historical context bringing politics and culture back into the analysis of global finance drawing on the latest thinking by sociologists of economic life.

With a convincing argument for better regulation of markets, Robert Holton provides a fascinating insight into the volatile and often misunderstood world of global finance. This is a key text for undergraduate students of sociology, economics, business, and politics, as well as being an incisive, informative read for anyone with an interest in this topical issue.

Contents

Series editor’s preface. Preface. 1. Global Finance 2. Global Finance: What It Is and How It Operates 3. The History and Social Geography of Global Finance 4. The Social Actors in Global Finance: Market Culture and Financial Knowledge 5. Society and Finance: An Alternative Theoretical Approach 6. Global Finance and Public Policy. Glossary. Bibliography. Webliography.

Author Bio

Robert J. Holton is Professor Emeritus in Sociology at Trinity College, Dublin, and Adjunct Professor of Sociology, at Flinders University of South Australia. His publications include Globalization and the Nation-State (2011), Cosmopolitanisms: New Thinking and New Directions (2009), Global Networks (2008) and Making Globalization (2005).