Le crisi finanziarie nell'Ordine Economico Post-Bellico ed il contributo della Cina alla diffusione del rischio sistemico

The logics of finance have become a crucial element for defining the balance of power that characterized the world order since especially after the end of the Bretton Woods monetary order the economic development has been prompted to an increasing extent by financial markets rather than by real economy. In this respect, the capacity to set out an efficient financial system has incrementally become a key factor that contributes to increase a state’s relative power and political influence, such as demonstrated by the United States status as world hegemon to a large extent based on Washington’s financial power However, the largest part of International Relations analysts agree on evaluating the American-led world order as in decline, and its deterioration has been especially attributed to the weakening of the neoliberal model and to the emergence of China, whose economic and financial success has been a crucial element for the rise to the status of major power. In particular, the World financial crisis of 2007-2008 represented a turning point that marked the power shift from the United States to the East Asia, while China’s capacity to become the engine of the global growth and to propose an efficient model of developmental different to the Neoliberal model made of Beijing an order shaper and the greatest challenger to the American hegemonic power. For this reason, the research starts to consider the mechanisms through which the processes of liberalization, privatization, and deregulation as constitutive principles of the Washington Consensus model combined with global financialization have been responsible for several financial crisis between the first 1990’s and the mid 2000’s, and to which extent these have functioned as geopolitical game changer, acting as catalyst for the decline of the United States and for the raise of China to the status of major power. In addition, the research will focus on the connection between financial systems and real estate bubbles, providing evidence that since the real estate market is embedded into a financial systems, property bubbles constitute the major source of risk of general default, capable indeed to convert limited financial downturns into systemic financial crisis with great implications for the international system. After having considered on the one hand the connection between the Washington Consensus model and the spread of several financial crisis, and on the other the role of property bubbles and how the diffusion of systemic risk undermined the Post-War Economic Order, the analysis will take into exam China’s financial system. In this respect, being the success of Beijing’s market authoritarinism model based on the role of the state as regulator a crucial factor of international leadership for the People’s Republic, its assessment will provide the research with the instrument required for realizing whether China is likely to give birth to a financial crisis or not. In particular, the consideration of the evolutionary trajectory, the evaluation of the current features, and the assessment of the risks and strength embedded in China’s financial system will give room to conclude that, while the state involvement in the People’s Republic financial system represents a source of inefficiency, there is no imminent risk of financial crisis for Beijing. On the contrary, the role of the state of regulator has been crucial for providing the country with a stable environment to grow in.