Debt, Regions and the State. The Political Economy of Financialization

Abstract

This cumulative dissertation deals with different aspects of the political economy of financialization processes, which have been largely neglected by political science so far. It first considers the centrality of sovereign debt for financialization and analyses corresponding changes in public debt management across OECD countries under the umbrella of an increasing alignment along global financial markets. Secondly, the dissertation uncovers a trend of a common, but geographically unevenly spread trend of financialization throughout European regions as a development marked by the fundamental role of private debt. Lastly, it aims at making a contribution to the growing literatur on changes in banking by bringing forward an argument about the financialization of German savings banks as monetary financial institutions that are normally regarded as risk-averse.