Abstract
Financial market integration processes in the European Union (EU) are characterised by an epistemic problem of economic theory. This problem encompasses what ‘the market’ is, how it is to be ‘integrated’, and the nature and role of ‘money’ as infrastructure of the fully integrated market. The EU’s legal framework has imported this epistemic problem along with the competitive conception of the market as described in economic theory–as a ‘level playing field’ for private exchange, under free, fair and ideally unrestrained competition. It manifests itself in European financial market integration processes, as exemplified in the article, via two otherwise disconnected areas of European Central Bank (ECB) activity: (a) the provision of central bank credit for the purpose of financial transaction settlement in the Eurozone; and (b) the conduct of ordinary monetary policy in the Eurozone. While the problem can be stabilised through legal, technical and other means, it remains latent, and may manifest itself again in unexpected ways, as happened in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Thus, contrary to ideologies that are widely understood as more or less coherent systems of doctrines, epistemic problems are characterised by specific tensions, contradictions and conceptual uncertainties.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
---|---|
Tidsskrift | New Political Economy |
Vol/bind | 26 |
Udgave nummer | 1 |
Sider (fra-til) | 36-51 |
Antal sider | 16 |
ISSN | 1356-3467 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2021 |
Udgivet eksternt | Ja |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:The author would like to express his deep gratitude to Vibeke E. Boolsen and Pernille S. Pedersen for their comments and suggestions. The work presented was carried out while affiliated with the MaxPo (Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies), Sciences Po, 28 rue des Saints-Pères, 75007 Paris, France.
Publisher Copyright:
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