ABSTRACT
Capitalism is a constantly evolving economic system that has gone through different stages, each characterized by an identifiable financial structure. The 1970s were marked by changes that led to the emergence of a new form of capitalism—Money Manager Capitalism (MMC)—in which money managers (pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, brokers and dealers, and other portfolio managers) and the financial sector in general have played an unusually central role in the dynamics of the economy. This new stage of capitalism is more prone to financial instability because of its focus on capital gains as the central means to validate a heavy reliance on debt; that is, MMC not only promotes indebtedness but also collateral-based lending over income based lending. As a consequence, the dangerous dynamics presented in the previous chapter will occur more frequently and rapidly, and fast rising asset prices are a core requirement for this stage of capitalism to perform well. This chapter explains what promoted the emergence of MMC and presents its essential characteristics. It shows that the Minskian framework can help us to understand the economic dynamics of the past sixty years.
