Glass-Steagall repeal broadened official support for reckless speculation

Evidence

Broadly cited as a central event in this chronology is the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act (which had kept commercial and investment banking separate since the fallback from the Great Depression) in 1999, which broadened the government safety net under the trading of securities, in effect unleashing the full force of “reckless” institutional speculation during the following decade. Through these developments, the relationship between industry, state, and finance shifted further toward its current form, with markets acquiring greater power over economy and society. This new hegemony has been often described as “the dictatorship of creditors” (Chesnais 1996) or “rentier capitalism” (Christophers 2020). — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 71

Categorization

• DEFINE: ‘Dictatorship of creditors’ and ‘rentier capitalism’ name the creditor-state-finance reordering that speculation migrates out of.