Reforming Regulatory Institutions: Enlarging the Space of Reasons

The most recent phase of global capitalism has been characterised by neoliberal arguments which have supported the deregulation of large sectors of world financial markets. This phenomenon has led to so-called financialization with capital attempting to separate itself from the material base of the economy. The instability of this form of economic activity in addition to the highly attractive short-term returns the financial sector has offered has been the main driver of the current global financial crisis.

This article will seek to examine the manners in which global regulatory frameworks can be reformed to ameliorate the current crisis and create an institutional architecture that will be robust to future shocks. It will be argued that reform needs to proceed in two directions depth and breadth. During the neoliberal phase of economic development, the public discourse on economic policy has centred on arguments based solely upon economic value, it will be suggested that a reformed framework needs to take into account and admit into the space of public reasons, ethical, aesthetic and civic arguments. This is due to the highly volatile nature of economic value and the necessity to acknowledge that in addition to being producers and consumers economic agents are also people.

In a similar vein following the work of Karl-Otto Apel on the public sphere, international regulatory institutions should take into consideration and be accountable to all those effected by their policies and actions. Given the increasingly integrated nature of the European and World economies agencies need to be rendered democratic