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Putting ‘merchants of debt’ in their place: the political economy of retail banking and credit-based financialisation in Germany

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  • Daniel Mertens

Abstract

Why did household debt in Germany not increase after the year 2000? This article offers a supply-side explanation for this deviant debt trajectory by tracing the historical evolution of retail banking in the German political economy. It argues that at the end of the 1990s and in the light of European Monetary Union, profitability issues and banking fragmentation became severe enough to interrupt the path towards credit-based financialisation as prevalent among other capitalist economies. These factors interacted with a traditional lack of tools and incentives for rapid credit expansion, even though they were renegotiated in the processes of financial liberalisation, internationalisation and innovation. By employing historical-qualitative as well as statistical evidence for the argument, the paper’s contribution becomes twofold. First, it introduces and conceptualises retail banking as a focal point in the analysis of national financial systems and their transformation. Second, it complicates the standard accounts of German non-financialisation and reveals the ‘contested’ character of financial reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Mertens, 2017. "Putting ‘merchants of debt’ in their place: the political economy of retail banking and credit-based financialisation in Germany," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 12-30, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cnpexx:v:22:y:2017:i:1:p:12-30
    DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2016.1195344
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Abdul Abiad & Enrica Detragiache & Thierry Tressel, 2010. "A New Database of Financial Reforms," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 57(2), pages 281-302, June.
    2. Jonathan Story & Ingo Walter, 1997. "Political Economy of Financial Integration in Europe: The Battle of the Systems," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262692031, April.
    3. Dan Andrews & Aida Caldera Sánchez & Åsa Johansson, 2011. "Housing Markets and Structural Policies in OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 836, OECD Publishing.
    4. Raghuram G. Rajan, 2010. "Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9111.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jan Libich & Liam Lenten, 2022. "Hero or villain? The financial system in the 21st century," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 3-40, February.
    2. Bonizzi, Bruno & Kaltenbrunner, Annina & Powell, Jeffrey, 2019. "Subordinate financialization in emerging capitalist economies," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 23044, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    3. Braun, Benjamin & Deeg, Richard, 2019. "Strong firms, weak banks: The financial consequences of Germany's export-led growth model," MPIfG Discussion Paper 19/5, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.

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