Finance and the Future of Capitalism (906M7)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

The main aim of this module is to help you build a systematic understanding of the political and social foundations of global financial markets, their operations and impacts on the world economy. You focuse on the problem of speculation, examining the various ways in which it has evolved and contributed to the development of finance. The module addresses questions such as: why do financial bubbles emerge? What type of practices sustains them? What are the different forms of speculative finance? This focus on speculation will serve to highlight the specificity of American finance and its role in redefining the political economy of advanced capitalist countries. After a theoretical and historical review, the module discusses various aspects of the process of financialisation and its social consequences. This provides an opportunity for familiarising you with various financial markets such as stock markets, derivative markets, housing markets, consumer credit, etc.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 267 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.