scholarly journals Financial phantasmagoria: corporate image-work in times of crisis

Organization ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian De Cock ◽  
Max Baker ◽  
Christina Volkmann

Our purpose in this article is to relate the real movements in the economy during 2008 to the ‘image-work’ of financial institutions. Over the period January—December 2008 we collected 241 separate advertisements from 61 financial institutions published in the Financial Times. Reading across the ensemble of advertisements for themes and evocative images provides an impression of the financial imaginaries created by these organizations as the global financial crisis unfolded. In using the term ‘phantasmagoria’ we move beyond its colloquial sense of a set of strange images designed to dazzle towards the more technical connotation used by Rancière (2004) who suggested that words and images can offer a trace of an overall determining set-up if they are torn from their obviousness so they become phantasmagoric figures. The key phantasmagoric figure we identify here is that of the financial institution as timeless, immortal and unchanging; a coherent and autonomous entity amongst other actors. This notion of uniqueness belies the commonality of thinking which precipitated the global financial crisis as well as the limited capacity for control of financial institutions in relation to market events. It also functions as a powerful naturalizing force, making it hard to question certain aspects of the recent period of ‘capitalism in crisis’.

ALQALAM ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
Budi Harsanto

The fall of Enron, Lehman Brothers and other major financial institution in the world make researchers conduct various studies about crisis. The research question in this study is, from Islamic economics and business standpoint, why the global financial crisis can happen repeatedly. The purpose is to contribute ideas regarding Islamic viewpoint linked with the global financial crisis. The methodology used is a theoretical-reflective to various article published in academic journals and other intellectual resources with relevant themes. There are lots of analyses on the causes of the crisis. For discussion purposes, the causes divide into two big parts namely ethics and systemic. Ethics contributed to the crisis by greed and moral hazard as a theme that almost always arises in the study of the global financial crisis. Systemic means that the crisis can only be overcome with a major restructuring of the system. Islamic perspective on these two aspect is diametrically different. At ethics side, there is exist direction to obtain blessing in economics and business activities. At systemic side, there is rule of halal and haram and a set of mechanism of economics system such as the concept of ownership that will early prevent the seeds of crisis. Keywords: Islamic economics and business, business ethics, financial crisis 


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 503-504
Author(s):  
Dara Z. Strolovitch

“Critical analyses of the global financial crisis of 2008 (GFC) have neglected the ways in which structural inequalities around gender and race factor into (and indeed make possible) the current economic order. Scandalous Economics breaks new ground by arguing that an explicitly gendered approach to the GFC and its ongoing effects can help us to understand both the root causes of the crisis and the failure to significantly reform financial institutions and macroeconomic models.” These words, from the blurb on the back cover of Scandalous Economics, nicely summarize the book’s topic and the general approach to it. Because the book contains contributions from a number of the top political scientists writing about the gendering of political economy, and because this topic is such an important one, we have invited a range of political scientists to comment on the book and on the broader theme of the gendering of political economy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 511-512
Author(s):  
Daniel W. Drezner

“Critical analyses of the global financial crisis of 2008 (GFC) have neglected the ways in which structural inequalities around gender and race factor into (and indeed make possible) the current economic order. Scandalous Economics breaks new ground by arguing that an explicitly gendered approach to the GFC and its ongoing effects can help us to understand both the root causes of the crisis and the failure to significantly reform financial institutions and macroeconomic models.” These words, from the blurb on the back cover of Scandalous Economics, nicely summarize the book’s topic and the general approach to it. Because the book contains contributions from a number of the top political scientists writing about the gendering of political economy, and because this topic is such an important one, we have invited a range of political scientists to comment on the book and on the broader theme of the gendering of political economy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 60-72
Author(s):  
Harry M Karamujic

Residential mortgage products (also known as home loans) pricing has been long understood to be something of a ‘dark art’, requiring judgment and experience, rather than being an exact science. In the last decade, a lot has changed in this field and more and more lenders, primarily the larger lenders, are increasingly looking to make their pricing as exact as possible. Even so, inadequate pricing of residential mortgage products (in particular its substandard risk pricing) has been seen as one of major causes of the global financial crisis (GFC) and subsequent spectacular banking collapses. The underlying theme of the paper is to exhibit how contemporary lenders, in practice, price their residential mortgage products. While discussing elements of the pricing calculation particular attention was given to the exposition of how contemporary lenders price risks involved in providing home loans. Because of the importance of Basel capital accords to how financial institutions assess and quantify their risks, the paper provides an overview of Basel capital accords. The author envisages that the paper will (i) help enhance comprehension of the underlying elements of the pricing calculation and the ways in which these elements relate to each other, (ii) scrutinize how contemporary lenders identify and quantify risks and (iii) improve consciousness of future changes in interest rates


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Aikman ◽  
Jonathan Bridges ◽  
Anil Kashyap ◽  
Caspar Siegert

How well equipped are today’s macroprudential regimes to deal with a rerun of the factors that led to the global financial crisis? To address the factors that made the last crisis so severe, a macroprudential regulator would need to implement policies to tackle vulnerabilities from financial system leverage, fragile funding structures, and the build-up in household indebtedness. We specify and calibrate a package of policy interventions to address these vulnerabilities—policies that include implementing the countercyclical capital buffer, requiring that banks extend the maturity of their funding, and restricting mortgage lending at high loan-to-income multiples. We then assess how well placed are two prominent macroprudential regulators, set up since the crisis, to implement such a package. The US Financial Stability Oversight Council has not been designed to implement such measures and would therefore make little difference were we to experience a rerun of the factors that preceded the last crisis. A macroprudential regulator modeled on the UK’s Financial Policy Committee stands a better chance because it has many of the necessary powers. But it too would face challenges associated with spotting build-ups in risk with sufficient prescience, acting sufficiently aggressively, and maintaining political backing for its actions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (191) ◽  
pp. 143-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Kocovic ◽  
Tatjana Rakonjac-Antic ◽  
Marija Jovovic

This article deals with the impact of the global financial crisis on the scale and structure of investment portfolios of insurance companies, with respect to their difference compared to other types of financial institution, which derives from the specific nature of insurance activities. The analysis includes insurance companies? exhibited and expected patterns of behavior as investors in the period before, during, and after the crisis, considering both the markets of economically developed countries and the domestic financial market of Serbia. The direction of insurers? investments in the post-crisis period should be very carefully examined in terms of their future implications for the insurance companies? long-term financial health, and defined in a broader context of managing all risks to which they are exposed, taking into account the interdependence of these risks. Pertinent recommendations in this regard have arisen from research of relevant past experience and current trends, and also from an analysis and comparison of views on this subject presented by a number of authors.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Najeeb Zada ◽  
Ahcene Lahsasna ◽  
Muhammad Yusuf Saleem

The recent financial crisis resulted destructive effects on finance industry. Islamic financial industry (IFI) is still naïve and largely untested in the face of a major financial turmoil. Major issues and uncertainties of the insolvency of IFI include the issue of moral hazard, government bailouts, excessive risk taking and deposit insurance. This paper addresses the issue of crisis management in IFI from the perspective of al-Siyasah al-Shar’iyyah and attempts to derive public policy guidelines that are useful in developing a timely and efficient crises management framework for Islamic finance industry. By using qualitative methods, the study found that the global financial crisis resulted in great destruction of financial institution. Although Islamic finance was quite immune to the global crisis as compared to its conventional peer, concerns still exist. It is time that Islamic finance industry learns from the financial woes of the rest of the world. =========================================== Krisis keuangan baru-baru ini mengakibatkan efek destruktif pada industri keuangan. Industri keuangan Islam (IKI) masih naif dan sebagian besar belum teruji dalam menghadapi gejolak keuangan besar. Isu utama dan ketidakpastian dari kebangkrutan IKI meliputi moral hazard, dana talangan pemerintah, pengambilan risiko yang berlebihan dan asuransi deposito. Makalah ini membahas isu manajemen krisis dalam IKI dari perspektif al-Siyasah al-Shar'iyyah dan berusaha mendapatkan pedoman kebijakan publik yang bermanfaat dalam mengembangkan kerangka kerja manajemen krisis yang tepat waktu dan efisien bagi IKI. Dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif, studi ini menemukan bahwa krisis keuangan global mengakibatkan kehancuran besar bagi industri keuangan. Meskipun keuangan Islam cukup kebal terhadap krisis global dibandingkan dengan keuangan konvensional, kekhawatiran masih ada. Sudah saatnya industri keuangan Islam belajar dari krisis keuangan dari seluruh dunia.


2019 ◽  
pp. 112-135
Author(s):  
Huw Macartney

This chapter covers the early 2000s in the UK as a backdrop to the legitimacy crisis that unfolded as the global financial crisis hit. It explains the institutional set-up and the regulatory mindset that prevailed during the 2000s. This helps to explain what changed as financial crisis hit. Using opinion poll data the chapter then explores the fall in public confidence in both banks and state managers as a means of tracking the legitimacy crisis. Then the chapter explores the austerity agenda and rising protests in the UK, before explaining the nascent populist response by UK state managers at the early stage of the financial crisis.


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