The essay analyzes in a sociological and political science perspective several key aspects of the global economic-financial crisis which have either been neglected or not sufficiently analyzed in most scientific and m...The essay analyzes in a sociological and political science perspective several key aspects of the global economic-financial crisis which have either been neglected or not sufficiently analyzed in most scientific and media accounts. It focuses on two basic aspects: a) the coguitive framework prevailing among U. S. corporate, governmental and intellectual elites, i.e. the neodiberal conception of the self-regulating market, which deeply influenced their behaviour both in the market and in the political arena and b ) the mechanisms of pressure politics and political lobbying in the US Congress that managed to influence key decisions concerning de-regulation policy, in so far as to weaken the existing systems of institutional controls and to prevent new rules for new financial products. The last section evaluates President Obama's economic strategy and regulation policy in the light of the two basic aspects analysed in the first two sections, i.e. the action of lobbies and the influence of mainstream neo-hberal economics. The aim of the essay is to integrate the economic literature with a sociological and political analysis in order to gain clearer knowledge of the complex mechanisms of the crisis, which in turn can contribute to identifying key obstacles in implementing pohcies aimed at enforcing new forms of regulation of global markets.展开更多
文摘The essay analyzes in a sociological and political science perspective several key aspects of the global economic-financial crisis which have either been neglected or not sufficiently analyzed in most scientific and media accounts. It focuses on two basic aspects: a) the coguitive framework prevailing among U. S. corporate, governmental and intellectual elites, i.e. the neodiberal conception of the self-regulating market, which deeply influenced their behaviour both in the market and in the political arena and b ) the mechanisms of pressure politics and political lobbying in the US Congress that managed to influence key decisions concerning de-regulation policy, in so far as to weaken the existing systems of institutional controls and to prevent new rules for new financial products. The last section evaluates President Obama's economic strategy and regulation policy in the light of the two basic aspects analysed in the first two sections, i.e. the action of lobbies and the influence of mainstream neo-hberal economics. The aim of the essay is to integrate the economic literature with a sociological and political analysis in order to gain clearer knowledge of the complex mechanisms of the crisis, which in turn can contribute to identifying key obstacles in implementing pohcies aimed at enforcing new forms of regulation of global markets.