Title: Financial crisis: the myth of free market ideology and current regulatory reforms

Authors: Avgitidou Athina

Addresses: School of Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541-24, Greece

Abstract: This paper attempts to show how free market ideology is articulated as a mythical discourse, demonstrating its main moments, and indicating the circumstances under which, despite its current dislocation, it continues to function as the hegemonic economic construction. The main argument put forward is that the consensus on the new system of financial supervision, which emerged in order to manage the current crisis, even though it highlights some of the shortcomings of free market ideology, does not seem to threaten its dominance.

Keywords: Polanyi; Barthes; social embedding; myth; free markets; neo-liberalism; financial crisis; free market ideology; mythical discourse; financial supervision.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMCP.2011.043755

International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 2011 Vol.5 No.3, pp.218 - 230

Published online: 19 Nov 2011 *

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