A Dynamic Theory of Public Banks (and why it matters)

Click here to view record
Main author: Marois, Thomas
Format: Journal Article           
Online access: Click here to view record


id eprints-34737
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic HB Economic Theory
HJ Public Finance
J Political Science
description Public banks are pervasive, with more than 900 worldwide, and powerful, having assets nearing $49 trillion. Yet they are too often perceived as static financial institutions, based on economic theories that begin from fixed notions of what it is to be a publicly owned bank. This has given rise to polarized debate wherein public banks are characterized as being either essentially good or bad. This is unrealistic and unhelpful as we seek ways to confront the crises of finance and of climate finance. We need instead to rethink public banks as dynamic and contested institutions within the public spheres of states. In this view, public ownership itself predetermines nothing but it does open up a particular public realm of possibilities. Change becomes possible and is a result of social forces making it so, if within the structural confines of gendered, racialized, and class-divided capitalist society. A dynamic theory of public banks provides a novel theoretical alternative and a practical pathway towards financing green and just transitions in the public interest.
format Journal Article
author Marois, Thomas
author_facet Marois, Thomas
authorStr Marois, Thomas
author_letter Marois, Thomas
title A Dynamic Theory of Public Banks (and why it matters)
publisher Taylor and Francis
publishDate 2022
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/34737/

Similar items