TY - JOUR
T1 - The Madoffization of Irish society
T2 - from Ponzi finance to sociological critique
AU - Monaghan, Lee F.
AU - O'Flynn, Micheal
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© London School of Economics and Political Science 2017
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - Financialization and neoliberal policy created the Celtic Tiger. This economic ‘miracle’ furthered creditors’ and property developers’ speculative interests, leading to an unstable financial pyramid that eventually imploded in 2008 with catastrophic consequences for Irish society. Using the sociological imagination as social critique, this paper offers a lens on fictitious capital and Ponzi finance in the context of Ireland's boom and bust. Critique is advanced using the Madoffization of society thesis, a sociological heuristic that draws formal comparisons between Bernie Madoff's US$65 billion Ponzi scheme, which collapsed in 2008, and financialized capitalism. The Madoff case exhibits five main elements or forms which, it has been argued, underlie the varying content of life on a much broader scale: accumulation by debt expansion, mass deception, efforts to maintain secrecy and silence, obfuscation, and scapegoating. In conclusion, a crucial difference between the Madoff case and the Madoffization of Irish society is underscored. Discussion also moves from critique to hope amidst calls to renew sociology and transform financialized capitalism.
AB - Financialization and neoliberal policy created the Celtic Tiger. This economic ‘miracle’ furthered creditors’ and property developers’ speculative interests, leading to an unstable financial pyramid that eventually imploded in 2008 with catastrophic consequences for Irish society. Using the sociological imagination as social critique, this paper offers a lens on fictitious capital and Ponzi finance in the context of Ireland's boom and bust. Critique is advanced using the Madoffization of society thesis, a sociological heuristic that draws formal comparisons between Bernie Madoff's US$65 billion Ponzi scheme, which collapsed in 2008, and financialized capitalism. The Madoff case exhibits five main elements or forms which, it has been argued, underlie the varying content of life on a much broader scale: accumulation by debt expansion, mass deception, efforts to maintain secrecy and silence, obfuscation, and scapegoating. In conclusion, a crucial difference between the Madoff case and the Madoffization of Irish society is underscored. Discussion also moves from critique to hope amidst calls to renew sociology and transform financialized capitalism.
KW - crisis
KW - debt
KW - financial capital
KW - Ireland
KW - Madoffization
KW - neoliberalism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85035807114&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1468-4446.12287
DO - 10.1111/1468-4446.12287
M3 - Article
C2 - 28783230
AN - SCOPUS:85035807114
SN - 0007-1315
VL - 68
SP - 670
EP - 692
JO - British Journal of Sociology
JF - British Journal of Sociology
IS - 4
ER -