MACMILLAN Money, Markets, and Democracy: Politically Skewed Financial Markets and How to Fix Them

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the ways that politics and financial markets impact one another. In this relationship, politics is the ultimate controlling force. The kinds and prices of financial instruments that get traded and the individuals and institutions that get to trade them, not to mention the rules under which everyone trades, are all matters decisively influenced by an array of political variables - sometimes for the better, but all too often for the worse. The fault for this political skewing of the markets chiefly lies with democracy.  Through its commitment to equality and its inclination towards fiscal profligacy, democracy hinders the markets from acting as a greater force for social good. To fix this skewing of finance, democracy’s troubling tendencies must be squarely faced and curbed by a return to its monetary roots. Democracy must reinstall gold at the monetary foundations of our financial markets. Review “This is a must-read book for all who wish to understand Western history of the past two hundred years, at the heart of which is the intimate relationship between finance and politics. In this sweeping and well-written book, Bragues explains that financial markets relate to democratic regimes in about the same way as heroin relates to drug addicts, and he advocates cold turkey.” (Guido Hulsmann, Professor, Universite d'Angers, France) “George Bragues' investigation into the uneasy partnership between money and democracy is as timely as it is important, and as winning as it is learned.  Here is a book that not only diagnoses the problem-- deranged markets, distorted values, immense debts-- but also prescribes the solution. Bravo!” (James Grant, Editor, Grant's Interest Rate Observer) From the Back Cover This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the ways that politics and financial markets impact one another. In this relationship, politics is the ultimate controlling force. The kinds and prices of financial instruments that get traded and the individuals and institutions that get to trade them, not to mention the rules under which everyone trades, are all matters decisively influenced by an array of political variables - sometimes for the better, but all too often for the worse. The fault for this political skewing of the markets chiefly lies with democracy.  Through its commitment to equality and its inclination towards fiscal profligacy, democracy hinders the markets from acting as a greater force for social good. To fix this skewing of finance, democracy’s troubling tendencies must be squarely faced and curbed by a return to its monetary roots. Democracy must reinstall gold at the monetary foundations of our financial markets. < About the Author George Bragues is the Assistant Vice-Provost and Program Head of Business at the University of Guelph-Humber, Canada. His writings have spanned the disciplines of economics, politics, and philosophy. He has published op-ed pieces in Canada’s Financial Post.  He has also published a wide variety of scholarly articles and reviews in journals such as The Journal of Business Ethics, Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, The Independent Review, History of Philosophy Quarterly, Episteme, and Business Ethics Quarterly.