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Headlong into the Polanyian dilemma : the impact of middle-class moral panic on the British Government's response to the sub-prime crisis

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Watson, Matthew, 1969-. (2009) Headlong into the Polanyian dilemma : the impact of middle-class moral panic on the British Government's response to the sub-prime crisis. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol.11 (No.3). pp. 422-437. ISSN 1369-1481

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Abstract

This article focuses on the discursive construction in Britain of a middle-class moral panic occasioned by the distress caused to self-styled 'responsible mortgage borrowers' by falling house prices. In the context of the move towards asset-based welfare the sub-prime crisis manifested itself most obviously in the popular consciousness as a threat to housing market wealth. The Labour government used the political space opened up by the narrative of middle-class moral panic in order to protect banks' balance sheets from the consequences of their own failed investments in mortgage-backed securities. The ensuing arrangements immunised banks from the implications of market self-regulation in the first-phase response to the sub-prime crisis while simultaneously allowing them to continue to impose the experience of market self-regulation on their customers. An increasingly asymmetric approach to banking regulation has arisen analogous to that which Karl Polanyi associated with the contradictory co-existence of market and non-market forms.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
H Social Sciences > HJ Public Finance
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Brown, Gordon, 1951-, Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009, Banks and banking -- Government ownership -- Great Britain, Welfare economics, Subprime mortgage loans, Great Britain -- Economic conditions -- 1997-
Journal or Publication Title: British Journal of Politics and International Relations
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ISSN: 1369-1481
Official Date: August 2009
Volume: Vol.11
Number: No.3
Page Range: pp. 422-437
Identification Number: 10.1111/j.1467-856X.2009.00379.x
Status: Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)
Grant number: RES-000-22-2198 (ESRC)
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URI: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1938

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