The Whip of Global Finance

The Element presents a Minskyan conceptualization to analyse the International Monetary and Financial Subordination (IMFS) of developing and emerging economies (DECs), with a focus on its transformations in the 21st century. We examine changes in external assets and liabilities of DECs, trace their implications in paradigmatic case studies, and derive consequences for macro-financial policy. As a novel contribution, we identify structural transformations in the external asset position of DECs that open new vulnerabilities, challenges, and possibilities in the context of IMFS. We critically assess the mainstream policy consensus in relation to IMFS and highlight its limitations. Against this, we set out general principles for an alternative approach to policy-making grounded in the contemporary challenges facing DECs.