The Great Recession and the State of American Capitalism

The panic that started in the U. S. mortgage and securities markets in the summer of 2007 and the near depression that followed triggered widespread expectations for a “return of the state” which ultimately failed to materialize. Instead of rediscovering regulated capitalism that would re-embed finance for the purpose of the common good, public policies took a decisive turn to austerity. Those who put their faith in the ability of the state to save capitalism from itself (again) failed to see that the Great Recession was not merely an economic downturn but a crisis of accumulation whose multiple dimensions involve the totality of capitalist social relations. That is, the economic crisis signified simultaneously a crisis of the policies and the institutions of the state.