Abstract

This chapter argues that Marxian theory together with financial Keynesianism may contribute to understanding the current ‘great’ capitalist crisis. Both however need some revision in the light of changing capitalist reality. The chapter first presents some considerations about the Marxian theory of crisis. It then does the same with some interesting developments within financial Keynesianism. The author’s perspective is that financial Keynesianism must be incorporated within Marxian theory. Marxian theory and financial Keynesianism must be reread in a long-run perspective of the capitalist dynamics. This will help to resolve internal difficulties of the theories. The chapter then discusses the idiosyncratic features of neoliberalism. The author refers to the interpretations of neoliberalism which see it not as a resurrection of laissez-faire but as a politically managed configuration of capitalism. The chapter then shows that neoliberalism was a kind of paradoxical financial and privatized Keynesianism, a money manager capitalism built upon a ‘concentration without centralization’ of capital, new forms of corporate governance, a new kind of aggressive competition, capital market inflation, manic savers leading to indebted consumption and a new active economic policy. It was a capitalist configuration which presented itself under the appearance of a ‘new’ capitalism. Finally, the chapter briefly discusses the global and European crises.