Peter Nolan

Abstract

The relationship between finance and the real economy is one of the central issues not only in the world today, but over the long sweep of history since the earliest era of the market economy. Examination of this issue unavoidably involves analysis of class structure, whether at the national or global level. Analysis of the relationship between finance and the real economy has a long history in China. In the seventh century BC Guan Zi (?-645 BC) recognised the essential role of the market, as well as the necessity to regulate it effectively in order to benefit the mass of the population: “Markets are the distribution centres for commodities from across the whole world. Tens of thousands of people exchange their products and do business there. If the function of the market can be brought correctly into full play, everyone will benefit from exchange in the market … However, the market alone cannot be allowed to decide the abundance or deficiency of commodities. There is a right way to realise this (wei zhi you dao). That is called the ‘handling the market’” (wu shi shi). For Guan Zi, finding the “right way” for the government to “handle the market” was analogous to finding the “right way” in Daoist philosophy.

Keywords

Finance, Banks, Real Economy, U.K. Economy, Poverty, Inequality

From: Critique 2019 47 (1)

Editor: Wang Yi