Second, and related, finance capital is not a separate entity from productive capital. The book makes it clear that international flows of a number of different kinds are central to the functioning of the system, and that it is impossible to understand Britain’s economy without understanding its role in the world. This was more than the entire economic output of Switzerland, as measured by GDP!’ (p.9). ‘In 2013 alone, US receipts from investments in foreign companies, foreign equities and bonds etc., amounted to $773.4bn. The most obvious proof of this is the amount of profit generated by investment in foreign industries, shares and so forth: Norfield worked in the City for twenty years as one of the – presumably – small club of Marxist city dealers, but if it was a lonely position for him it had the advantage of allowing a fruitful fusion of technical knowledge and big-picture theory. His key insights challenge a number of misconceptions that cloud much thinking about finance and the British economy, even on the left.įirst, the role of big finance simply cannot be addressed at a purely national level, it can only be understood as part of a global system. Second, it applies that analysis to Britain’s current role in the world system in a way which helps to explain the predicament our rulers are in and the prospects for the rest of us. First it provides an accessible, systematic and updated account of the Marxist understanding of finance capital. There is a lot of fascinating detail in Tony Norfield’s book about how the City of London works, but it is outstandingly useful for two main reasons. Tony Norfield, The City: London and the Global Power of Finance (Verso 2016), 288pp.
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