Smash the banks
'Zerschlagt die Banken (full title Zerschlagt die Banken. Disempowered the Financial Markets. A polemic ) is a book by the German economist Rudolf Hickel , an emeritus professor for political economy and finance at the University of Bremen . It was published in February 2012 by Econ Verlag in Berlin . In it, Hickel analyzes the financial crisis from 2007 and presents approaches to overcoming the problems that have arisen . The central demand of his " polemic " is the return of the banks to a serving function in relation to the real economy and the destruction of the systemic importance of the big banks .
The book was published in three editions until summer 2012, with the first subtitle changed to Civilized the Financial Markets from the second edition . In addition, the “Streitschrift” appeared as an e-book . In mid-March 2012, the book was on the bestseller list for non-fiction books by Der Spiegel magazine .
content
Rudolf Hickel examines the banking , financial and economic crisis that began in 2007 and, in seven theses, advocates breaking the "speculation departments" of the big banks in favor of a disempowered banking system and a return to traditional banking.
He calls for the smashing of the big banks, which he believes caused the 2008 financial crisis , which is still affecting economic life today. He calls for the systemic relevance of the big banks to be removed, speculative investment banking to be smashed, the proprietary trading of banks outside of the regulated stock exchanges to be prohibited and short sales and credit default insurance to be essentially prohibited.
Hickel also proposes that the shadow banks that emerged in the course of the economic crisis and that evade regulation should be transferred to state control.
The financial markets would have to be disempowered by regulatory rules and a supervisory system with strict rules introduced.
The banks should be reduced to a function serving the economy. The regional savings banks and cooperative banks play an important role for Hickel . A separation of business and investment banking to protect the state, economy and citizens must be enforced by politics.
The US rating agencies Standard & Poor’s , Moody’s , Fitch Ratings should be disempowered and, as an alternative, a politically and economically independent rating agency for the EU should be set up.
According to Hickel, the real economy with capital investments and innovations must again be given priority over the financial sector.
According to Hickel, politics should be able to intervene in the financial markets again.
reception
Frank Wiebe from Handelsblatt stated that Hickel had analyzed the reasons and backgrounds of the great financial crisis very precisely and accurately, although many of the proposals were not new. Basically, he called less for the existing structures to be broken up and more for stricter regulation of the financial sector. Wiebe's conclusion: "Almost everything he asks has already happened."
Franziska Augstein from the Süddeutsche Zeitung notes that Hickel not only analyzes the banking crisis, but also makes suggestions for solving the problems that have arisen.
Ferdinand Klien from NDR explains that, in Hickel's view, neoliberalism , which has made possible a gambler capitalism that is hostile to innovation and the future, has failed. The book is generally understandable and comes at the right time.
The journalist Peter Brinkmann emphasizes that Hickel is “never about profit , but about justice”. In his article in the SPD party newspaper Vorwärts , he emphasizes that Hickel is calling for the banks to be nationalized: "For Hickel, the disempowerment of the banks is a necessary consequence of regaining the primacy of politics over the corporate economy."
In a book review, the MDR states that this pamphlet makes it understandable how this financial crisis could come about, "where there are still problems today and what would have to change for a stable financial system". It is also noted that a pamphlet provides an opportunity to argue about alternatives.
Awards and nominations
The book was nominated for the getAbstract International Book Award , which was presented for the twelfth time at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2012 .
literature
- Rudolf Hickel: Smash the banks. Powerless the financial markets. A polemic. 1st edition. Econ Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-430-20141-4 .
(Title changed from the 2nd edition to: Smash the banks. Civilize the financial markets ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Non-fiction books (bestsellers) . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 2012, p. 141 ( online ).
- ^ Rudolf Hickel: Smash the banks. Powerless the financial markets. A polemic. 1st edition. Econ Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-430-20141-4 , pp. 21-27 (text excerpt from the 3rd edition: alternative-wirtschaftspektiven.de ; PDF; 143 kB).
- ↑ Frank Wiebe: A pamphlet without a big argument . Handelsblatt.com , April 13, 2012, review; Retrieved July 9, 2012.
- ↑ Franziska Augstein : Augstein's selection - "Smash the banks" . Video review on Süddeutsche.de from March 28, 2012. Video stream , length: 06:01 minutes; accessed on July 9, 2012 ( no longer online ).
- ↑ Ferdinand Klien: Political book: "Smash the banks" . Review on Norddeutscher Rundfunk NDR.de from March 19, 2012. ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Peter Brinkmann : Page no longer available , search in web archives: Smash the banks . Reviewed in Vorwärts on May 21, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Smash the banks. Civilizes the financial markets by Rudolf Hickel . Reviewed in the MDR Journal on May 25, 2012. Retrieved on August 9, 2012.
- ↑ getAbstract International Book Award will be presented for the 12th time in 2012 . Press release of the Swiss company getAbstract AG on the web portal of the news agency pressetext.com from August 5, 2012. Retrieved on August 5, 2012.