Finance and the City: Derivatives and the Financialization of the Local State.

Overview


PhD project on the financialization of municipal debt management through interest rate derivatives

Duration:
Since 01 October 2015

Research Team:
Sebastian Möller (Head of project)

Advisor:
Sebastian Botzem

Details


Project overview: Finance and the City

The PhD project comparatively analyzes the financialization of municipal debt management through complex interest rate derivatives such swaps and LOBO loans from a Critical Political Economy perspective. The integration of three municipalities - Essen (DE), Manchester (UK) & Linz (AT) - is reconstructed on the basis of expert interviews and documents. The results are interpretd against the backgroup of ongoing debates concerning the transformation of (local) statehood and the financialization of public institutions.

Project-related presentations at conferences, workshops & seminars

  • The financialization of municipal debt: Local governments and the brave new world of derivative capitalism (25.07.2018, 5. Global Conference of Economic Geography, University of Cologne)
  • Kämmerer im Casino oder Abzocke durch Banken? Die Finanzialisierung kommunaler Verschuldungspraktiken im internationalen Vergleich (05.06.2018, Seminar "Aktuelle Themen der Interantional Politischen Ökonomie", Goethe University Frankfrurt)
  • The financialization of the local state (07.09.2017, COSMOPOLIS Seminar,VU Brussels)
  • The financialization of municipal debt management: How did interest rate derivatives enter city hall? (08.04.2017, AAG Annual Meeting 2017, Boston)
  • When global finance knocks at city hall's door (14.12.2016, SPERI Seminar, University of Sheffield)
  • Global finance meets local politics: Derivatives & municipal debt management 
    (02.12.2016, CURDS financialisation & local government workshop, University of Newcastle)
  • When finance knocks at city hall's door: Derivatives & municipal debt management
    (24.11.2016, Alliance Manchester Business School PhD seminar)
  • When finance knocks at city hall's door: Derivatives and municipal debt management
    (21.09.2016, Young Scholars Workshop Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Finance, University of Bremen)
  • The mayor in the casino? Municipal governments engagement in the derivatives market
    (09.09.2016, ECPR General Conference 2016, Prague)
  • Municipal debt and the derivative market: Interest rate swaps as an emerging social relationship
    between local authorities and transnational finance (11.07.2016, 3. ISA Forum of Sociology, Vienna)
  • Das Engagement von Kommunen auf globalen Derivatemärkten und der Einfluss transnationaler Finanzdienstleister (19.05.2016, DVPW Nachwuchstagung Internationale Politische Ökonomie, Kassel)
  • Local governments and global finance: Municipal engagement in the derivatives market
    (04.03.2016, Workshop: “Debt trails”, ELTE University Budapest)
  • The financialisation of local governance: Municipal government´s activities
    on financial markets (15.10.2015, FESSUD Annual Conference 2015, Lisbon)

Duration:
Since 01 October 2015

Research Team:
Sebastian Möller (Head of project)

Advisor:
Sebastian Botzem

Project Type:
Qualification project

Publications


Journal Articles

Möller, Sebastian, 2018: Brand mit Ansage: Der Grenfell Tower als Exempel, in: Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, 2018 (2), pp. 29 - 32, Link (Date: 09.02.2018)

Articles in Edited Volume

Deruytter, Laura; Möller, Sebastian, 2020: Cultures of Debt Management Enter City Hall, in: Phil Mader, Daniel Mertens, Natascha van der Zwan (Ed.), The Routledge International Handbook of Financialization, London: Routledge, pp. 400 - 410, Link (Date: 24.01.2020)

Working Paper/Discussion Paper

Möller, Sebastian, 2016: When finance knocks at City Hall's door: Derivatives and municipal debt management, Paper presented at the Young Scholars Workshop Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Finance, September 2016, Bremen/2016, Universität Bremen, Link (Date: 24.01.2020)

Media

Fastenrath, Florian; Mertens, Armin; Möller, Sebastian; Wangemann, Rebecca, 2020: Großtrend Finanzialisierung: Kommunen und die Finanzwelt – Begegnung auf Augenhöhe?, in: Dezernat Zukunft, 11.09.2020, Link (Date: 14.09.2020)

Möller, Sebastian, 2017: Finance is Society!, in: soziopolis, 30.01.2017, Link (Date: 19.11.2018)

Möller, Sebastian, 2017: From Hammersmith to Newham: Austerity, Local Authority Debt & Financial Markets., in: Discover Society (Issue 47), Link (Date: 09.02.2018)

Möller, Sebastian, 2017: Financializing town halls: Local councils, LOBO loans and the derivatives markets, in: SPERI comment, 26.06.2017, Link (Date: 19.11.2018)

Möller, Sebastian, 2017: London’s Grenfell Tower Fire and the Financialisation of Local Governanc, in: governance across borders, 04.08.2017, Link (Date: 02.02.2020)

Möller, Sebastian; Wolf, Marcus, 2016: Den Schulden auf der Spur, in: soziopolis, 13.04.2016, Link (Date: 19.11.2018)

Möller, Sebastian; Wolf, Marcus, 2016: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf das globale Finanzwesen, in: soziopolis, 10.11.2016, Link (Date: 19.11.2018)