Alt-Finance - Wyrms.de

English language

Published Nov. 22, 2022 by Pluto Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-7453-4758-5

(1 review)

Powerful financial forces have supported the neoliberal project since the 1980s to advance their interests; but there are now signs that these forces have a new face and a new strategy. The majority of the British finance sector threw its support behind Britain leaving the European Union, a flagship institution of neoliberalism. Beyond this counterintuitive move, what was really happening and why? Alt-Finance examines a new authoritarian turn in financialised democracies, focusing on the City of London, revealing a dangerous alternative political project in the making.

In a clash with traditional finance, the new behemoths of financial capital - hedge funds, private equity firms and real estate funds - have started to cohere around a set of political beliefs, promoting libertarian, authoritarian, climate-denying and Eurosceptic views. Protecting investments, supressing social dissent and reducing state interference are at the core of their mission for a new world order.

By following the …

Powerful financial forces have supported the neoliberal project since the 1980s to advance their interests; but there are now signs that these forces have a new face and a new strategy. The majority of the British finance sector threw its support behind Britain leaving the European Union, a flagship institution of neoliberalism. Beyond this counterintuitive move, what was really happening and why? Alt-Finance examines a new authoritarian turn in financialised democracies, focusing on the City of London, revealing a dangerous alternative political project in the making.

In a clash with traditional finance, the new behemoths of financial capital - hedge funds, private equity firms and real estate funds - have started to cohere around a set of political beliefs, promoting libertarian, authoritarian, climate-denying and Eurosceptic views. Protecting investments, supressing social dissent and reducing state interference are at the core of their mission for a new world order.

By following the money, the authors provide indisputable evidence of these worrying developments. Through a clear analysis of the international dealings of this new authoritarian-libertarian regime, not just in Britain but in the US and Brazil, we can understand how our world is being shaped against our will by struggles between dominant groups.

2 editions

pdotb reviewed Alt-Finance by Marlène Benquet

Lots to think about

4 stars

Content warning ukpol, brexit

So the subtitle is a bit misleading as it's not really talking about 'the City', at least as I'd understand it, and the basic idea, that Brexit was driven by the libertarian right, might not be wholly new, but I still thought this was well-worth reading.

There's a very useful overview of the history of the UK financial industry that's filled in a lot of gaps in my understanding, followed by a classification of different sectors, explaining why they refer to 'alt-finance'. I think the key point here is that much of the financial sector makes its money within the framework of the EU's rules-based neoliberal order, and quite like it that way. There are, however, more speculative forms of finance whose protagonists would much rather everything was deregulated, providing more of a night-watchman libertarian state, that's simply enforcing contracts and nothing more. These are the people who contributed so much to the leave campaigns and, since the vote, have pushed for the hardest possible Brexit.

As if that wasn't grim enough, the latter part of the book ties this in with their more general authoritarian libertarianism, climate change denial, and the rest.

All very thought-provoking, and now there's lots more I want to read, but not necessarily a cheery book.