Harold James, PhD, Dr. h.c.

Arbeitsvorhaben

The History of Modern Finance

Finance plays a key role in the story of the history of capitalism because financial institutions involve a degree of organization that serves to camouflage or obscure the market process. The extent of financialization can be measured; but often the growth in the scale of financial institutions means a camouflaging or even suppression of basic market signals. Banks, which are at the center of finance capitalism, have consequently puzzled many observers. They are conceptually a black box, in which the outsider – the depositor – does not really know much about how his money is being used; consequently, banks are subject to panics and runs as some depositors change their opinion and come to believe that their funds may not be safe and as other depositors realize that the fact of a run means that not all liabilities can be paid and that it is advantageous to be first in line to make a withdrawal. Modern banks have increased their complexity and hence their intransparency. In the recent financial crisis, observers were astonished to find that in a panic, price signals no longer operated to clear markets and that it was impossible to determine the worth of complex derivative products. This study will emphasize the way capitalism – especially financial capitalism – depends on often intransparent clusters and networks. These develop in particular locations – capitalist hubs – but depend on technologies that extend their influence widely, even globally. The study showcases particular examples of key figures in social and financial networks, emphasizing linkages between finance and other activities, including artistic patronage and politics. How do the practitioners of an activity that depends on undisclosed and non-public information convince others of their competence and probity: through political activity, artistic or religious practice, or even skill at nonfinancial strategic games, from chess to bridge to Tai Chi?

Recommended Reading

James, Harold. The German Slump: Politics and Economics 1924–1936. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.
—. The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
—. Seven Crashes: The Economic Crises That Shaped Globalization. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2023.

Publikationen aus der Fellowbibliothek

James, Harold ([Deutschland], 2022)

Schockmomente : eine Weltgeschichte von Inflation und Globalisierung 1850 bis heute

James, Harold (Cambridge, 2020)

Seven transformative crises from European revolution to corona : globalization and state capacity

James, Harold (München, 2014)

Swiss Re und die Welt der Risikomärkte : eine Geschichte

James, Harold (Oxford, 2011)

International order after the financial crisis

James, Harold (München, 2011)

Krupp : deutsche Legende und globales Unternehmen Krupp

James, Harold (Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.], 2006)

Family capitalism : Wendels, Haniels, Falcks, and the continental European model

James, Harold (Cambridge [u.a.], 2004)

The Nazi dictatorship and the Deutsche Bank

James, Harold (Aldershot, Hants, UK, 2002)

Enterprise in the period of fascism in Europe Studies in banking history