Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/157794 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Citation: 
[Journal:] Socio-Economic Review [Volume:] 13 [Issue:] 3 [Publisher:] The Bichler and Nitzan Archives [Place:] Toronto [Year:] 2015 [Pages:] 505-523
Publisher: 
The Bichler and Nitzan Archives, Toronto
Abstract: 
In various writings Karl Marx made references to an ‘aristocracy of finance’ in Western Europe and the United States that dominated ownership of the public debt. Drawing on original research, this article offers the first comprehensive analysis of public debt ownership within the US corporate sector. The research shows that over the past three decades, and especially in the context of the current crisis, a new aristocracy of finance has emerged, as holdings of the public debt have become rapidly concentrated in favor of large corporations classified within Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE). Operationalizing Wolfgang Streeck’s concept of the ‘debt state’, the article goes on to demonstrate how concentration in ownership of the public debt reinforces patterns of social inequality and proceeds in tandem with a shift in government policy, one that prioritizes the interests of government bondholders over the general citizenry.
Subjects: 
public finance
financial institutions
distribution
redistribution
financial crisis
class
URL of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Accepted Manuscript (Postprint)

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