Finance capitalism is a term in Marxian political economics defined as the subordination of processes of production to the accumulation of money profits in a financial system. It is characterized by the pursuit of profit from the purchase and sale of, or investment in, currencies and financial products such as bonds, stocks, futures and other derivatives. It also includes the lending of capital at interest. Finance capitalism is seen by Marxists as being exploitative by supplying income to non-laborers.

Finance capitalism is seen by Marxists as a dialectical outgrowth of industrial capitalism, and part of the process by which the whole capitalist phase of history comes to an end. In the tradition of Thorstein Veblen, it is contrasted with industrial capitalism, where profit is made from the manufacture of goods.

Fascists were vocal in their opposition to finance capitalism. Academic defenders of the economic concept of capitalism, such as Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, see profits as part of the roundabout process by which it grows and hedges against inevitable risks.

See also

• Causes of World War I
• Corporatism
• Economics of fascism
• Joint Stock Companies Act 1844
• Limited Liability Act 1855
• New Imperialism

External links

• Imperialism: A Study (John Hobson)
• Imperialism and World Economy (Nikolai Bukharin)
• Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (Vladimir Lenin)

References