Alicia Girón

Securitization and financialization

Securitization and financialization are the main causes of the financial crisis. These two concepts explain not only Minskys financial instability hypothesis but also the off-balance-sheet operations represented by derivative products, which are closely related to mortgage loans. Financial intermediaries in need of liquidity did everything in their power so that the securitization of assets could have a life of its own in financial operations. This is a process that is endogenous to the development of financialization. Because said process was a violation of the monetary economy, it was necessary for central banks to intervene as lenders of last resort as well as to nationalize and restructure all the financial intermediaries.

Credit and Capital Formation: Lessons of Mexican Migrant Entrepreneurs in the U.S. Financial Crisis

One of the most important elements of financial crises is the credit restriction that follows and the immediate consequences it has on investment and employment. In the post-Keynesian vision, an exit from economic crises frequently requires increased demand, specifically through public expenditure and employment. Furthermore, it requires the exploration of various policies and institutional reforms that could counteract the credit rationing emerging from the first moments of the financial crisis, particularly in regard to the financing of small business. This is one of the principal lessons this paper explores when studying a sample of Mexican immigrant entrepreneurs in three cities in the United States, and their conditions of survival amid the financial crisis.

“Déjà vu” History: The European Crisis and Lessons from Latin America through the Glass of Financialization and Austerity Measures

Abstract: The scope of the current European crisis calls for a rereading of mainstream economic theory. Europe is experiencing a “déjà vu” history through which Latin America has already lived. The recurrent crises from the 1970s up to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy are manifestations of the financialization process and relate to its different facets. The objective of this article is to analyze financialization in the current economic and financial crisis in Europe as well as its role in the Latin American debt crisis. A heterodox perspective is necessary to understand this long process of economic deterioration and discern the global fragility of the current financial system. An explanation of the structural crisis in the Eurozone implies an understanding of the financial and monetary agreements laid out in the Maastricht Treaty and the position of the Central Bank with regard to financial markets. Today, financial investors have been especially attuned to interest rate risks and profitability in the international financial system, in the same way that transnational banks owned Latin American sovereign debt years before.

Crisis, Dollar and Shadow Financial System

One of the biggest concerns in the course of the current financial crisis is the role of the dollar and its hegemony in exchange transactions on a global level. The financial operations of the parallel or shadow financial system cannot be comprehended without understanding financialization and securitization. Too big to fail, too big to rescue expressed the size of the over-the-counter derivatives market. Institutional investors are responsible for the sovereign debt problem and the solution to the crisis. The dollar as the international general equivalent of the shadow financial system is of tremendous importance in todays world.

Women and Financialization: Microcredit, Institutional Investors, and MFIs

Abstract: My aim in this paper is to show the way in which microfinance acquires the face of women. While micro-finance institutions (MFIs) act under the flag of “serving the common good,” there are still the interests of institutional investors behind them, who are looking to profit through international financial circuits. On one hand, microfinance is part of financial innovation in the global financial circuits. On the other hand, women’s bancarization inserts them into the labor market, hence into the financial circuits. MFIs become part of the shadow financial system. When debating microcredit’s profitability from a gender perspective, I note both the financial effectiveness of microcredits and the role of women as highly profitable economic agents. Is there a relation between financialization and microcredit? Is microcredit an achievement that will improve the economic, political, and social environment for women? Why is it that women’s bancarization has been a priority of international financial organizations? Microcredit with a woman’s face confirms the suggested hypotheses. Their empowerment through microcredit is a new way for financial investors to obtain higher profits through MFIs. The highest interest rates that MFIs charges are an expression of financialization by institutional investors.

Is China Living a Minsky Moment? Between the “Lender of Last Resort” and the Chinese Shadow Financial System

Abstract: After Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008, the Central Bank of China (PBOC) created a big 1.8 trillion dollars package to boost the Chinese economy. It was a necessary key measure not only to prop up the economy, but also to try to preserve the two-digit growth of the GDP that existed before the Great Recession. The financial instability of international financial circuits made necessary the involvement of the central bank. Ten years later, China’s debt explosion went up during the financial crisis, from six to twenty-eight trillion dollars between 2007 and 2016. In other words, it went up from 148 to 260 percent of GDP during the same period. The goal of this article is to analyze whether China is living a “Minsky moment” or not, and what its implications are for international financial markets.

Empoderamiento económico de las mujeres. Nadie se queda atrás. Acciones procurando el cambio

Nadie se Queda Atras, Acciones Procurando el Cambio xa0centra el empoderamiento economico de las mujeres como el corazon de la Agenda 2030. Solo si las mujeres participan en todas las esferas de la vida, incluyendo la economica, se alcanzaran los Objetivos del Desarrollo Sostenible (ods). Este documento trabajado a lo largo de seis meses incluye recomendaciones para lograr el cambio mediante acciones concretas entre gobiernos, sector privado y sociedad civil. El Estado debera transmitir cambios y mejoras en las politicas publicas, en las leyes del sistema juridico, ampliar el gasto publico para lograr mas empleos, mejorar la estrecha relacion entre las diferentes asociaciones e intentar aumentar la representacion de las mujeres en la vida publica.

An Institutional Perspective on International Financial Governance: How Much Has Happened Since the Crisis?

Abstract: This article studies some institutional trends in international financial regulation after the great crisis of 2008. It supports the idea that the largest financial corporations are working to create several components for an international self-regulation. Private firms make up the architecture of this complicated global mechanism, which is backed up by governments. Meanwhile, this built-up mechanism is based on several assumptions about the origins of the great financial crisis and on the capabilities of governments to reach the objectives they are expected to achieve. This article concludes that a new financial crisis will develop, and the “too-big-to-fail” financial corporations are already preparing strategies on resolution regimes.

A 40 años de devaluaciones, crisis recurrentes y desregulaciones

“Adios represion financiera. iQue tal, crack financiero!” de Carlos F. Diazxa0Alejandro es un trabajo de ensenanza para aquellos paises que han implementadoxa0politicas de desregulacion y liberalizacion financiera, en aras de un financiamientoxa0al desarrollo mas incluyente y que han llegado no solo a crisisxa0financieras, cuyo efecto ha provocado cambios estructurales de sus economiasxa0en los circuitos economicos y financieros a nivel mundial.

CHINA Y AMÉRICA LATINA FRENTE A LA RECESIÓN Y DEFLACIÓN

La fragilidad financiera y la volatilidad de la moneda china en los mercadosxa0financieros muestran el continuo deterioro de la economia acompanado dexa0una fuga de capitales creciente y la disminucion de sus reservas. El replanteamientoxa0de reformas economicas orientadas a satisfacer el mercado interno de la quinta parte de la poblacion a nivel mundial esta causando serios desajustes principalmente en los mercados emergentes. America Latina se enfrenta axa0una profunda transformacion en sus relaciones comerciales y financieras conxa0China en un entorno deflacionario y recesivo