The Global Economic Crisis: An Episode in the History of Money
The economic crisis is not merely financial, a moment in the credit/debt cycle. Events since 2008 should rather be seen as the collapse of "national capitalism", the money system that the world lived by in the twentieth century. This has been unraveling since the US dollar went off gold in 1971 and money derivatives were invented the following year. The erosion of political and legal controls over money in recent decades has led to a situation where politics is still mainly national, but the money circuit is global and mostly lawless. The idea of central bank money or legal tender is tenacious despite this development. As the need for international cooperation intensifies, the disconnect between economy and political institutions undermines effective solutions. The crisis of the eurozone in 2011-2012 may be understood best as a Sophoclean tragedy in which good intentions cannot remedy the consequences of past mistakes.
Speaker
Keith Hart, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Everybody is welcome without prior registration.
Location: Room 003, Lipsiusgebouw (1175), Cleveringaplaats 1, Leiden
Date: February 22, 2012
Time: 19:30
Cost: Free
