We briefly describe the recent evolution of the crisis and, by reviewing some of its explanations based on different theories, we proceed towards our own interpretation. The deregulation wave of the last decades has created new profit opportunities in various contexts – from labour flexibility...

In this paper, we revisit the association between happiness and inequality. We argue that the interaction between the perceived and the actual fairness of the income generation process affects this association. Building on a simple model of individual labor-market participation under...

In this paper we explore the role of finance in the recent crisis noting that its expansion, in a context of deregulation and globalisation, has boosted financial profits and capital accumulation, but at the cost of a growing systemic instability both in the leading capitalist economy, i.e. the...

A financial crisis can have important effects on the real economy. The more financially fragile are agents the more likely is the occurrence of a financial crisis. Moreover, financial contagion may have more or less severe consequences on the real economy, depending on the degree distribution of...

We argue that perceived fairness of the income generation process affects the association between income inequality and subjective well-being, and that there are systematic differences in this regard between countries that are characterized by a high or, respectively, low level of actual...

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between increasing inequality and financial fragility in an agent based macroeconomic model. We analyse the effects of a non-linear relationship between wealth and consumption on the evolution of the economic system. Preliminary results...

In this paper, we revisit the association between happiness and inequality. We argue that the perceived fairness of the income generation process affects this association. Building on a two-period model of individual life-time utility maximization, we predict that persons with higher perceived...

In this paper, we revisit the association between happiness and inequality. We argue that the perceived fairness of the income generation process affects this association. Building on a two-period model of individual life-time utility maximization, we predict that persons with higher perceived...

We firstly provide a brief description of the crisis episodes, from the 2007-8 "liquidity crisis" to the 2008-9 "global recession". Then, we discuss some possible interpretations of the recent evolution, focussing on diverse aspects of the crisis: from the "elements of novelty" (financial...