Politics of Alternative Finance

OpenSpace and CRESC held a one-day workshop in February 2010 on the underlying principles and practical prescriptions for financial reform. It was organised around three main questions:

  • What should be the fundamental goals of the financial system and of banking reform? How can these goals be achieved by markets, regulation and institutional redesign?
     
  • How might finance be made more accountable? How is the idea of social responsibility to be thought into financial market practices and policies at national and international levels?
     
  • How might a reformed financial services sector deal with social needs, ranging from access to affordable credit to dealing with impact of climate change?

Nicholas Hildyard of The Corner House spoke on:

the role of international companies in controling finance,

the chilling irony of the financial crisis, and

three points about the financial crisis