The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality
A compelling explanation of how the law shapes the distribution of wealth

What is it that transforms a simple object, an idea, or a promise to pay into an asset that creates wealth? Katharina Pistor explains how, behind closed doors in the offices of private attorneys, capital is created—and why this little-known activity is one of the biggest reasons for the widening wealth gap between the holders of capital and everybody else. A powerful new way of thinking about one of the most pernicious problems of our time, The Code of Capital explores the various ways that debt, complex financial products, and other assets are selectively coded to protect and reproduce private wealth. This provocative book paints a troubling portrait of the pervasive global nature of the code, the people who shape it, and the governments that enforce it.

1129768653
The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality
A compelling explanation of how the law shapes the distribution of wealth

What is it that transforms a simple object, an idea, or a promise to pay into an asset that creates wealth? Katharina Pistor explains how, behind closed doors in the offices of private attorneys, capital is created—and why this little-known activity is one of the biggest reasons for the widening wealth gap between the holders of capital and everybody else. A powerful new way of thinking about one of the most pernicious problems of our time, The Code of Capital explores the various ways that debt, complex financial products, and other assets are selectively coded to protect and reproduce private wealth. This provocative book paints a troubling portrait of the pervasive global nature of the code, the people who shape it, and the governments that enforce it.

24.95 In Stock
The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality

The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality

by Katharina Pistor
The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality

The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality

by Katharina Pistor

Paperback

$24.95 
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Overview

A compelling explanation of how the law shapes the distribution of wealth

What is it that transforms a simple object, an idea, or a promise to pay into an asset that creates wealth? Katharina Pistor explains how, behind closed doors in the offices of private attorneys, capital is created—and why this little-known activity is one of the biggest reasons for the widening wealth gap between the holders of capital and everybody else. A powerful new way of thinking about one of the most pernicious problems of our time, The Code of Capital explores the various ways that debt, complex financial products, and other assets are selectively coded to protect and reproduce private wealth. This provocative book paints a troubling portrait of the pervasive global nature of the code, the people who shape it, and the governments that enforce it.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691208602
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 11/03/2020
Pages: 316
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Katharina Pistor is the Edwin B. Parker Professor of Comparative Law and director of the Center on Global Legal Transformation at Columbia Law School. Her books include Law and Capitalism: What Corporate Crises Reveal about Legal Systems and Economic Development around the World. Twitter @KatharinaPistor

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Empire of Law 1

2 Coding Land 23

3 Cloning Legal Persons 47

4 Minting Debt 77

5 Enclosing Nature's Code 108

6 A Code for the Globe 132

7 The Masters of the Code 158

8 A New Code? 183

9 Capital Rules by Law 205

Notes 235

Index 279

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Almost anybody who reads the book will benefit; a must-read for corporate lawyers, investment bankers, capital providers."—Rahul Saikia, Financial Times

"Nothing less than a crisis theory of law."—Adam Tooze, New York Review of Books

"A fascinating book that demonstrates how the rights of capital have been entrenched in the international legal system. The Code of Capital opens the way for a thoughtful discussion about the treaties on capital flows and privileges that need to be rewritten. A must-read."—Thomas Piketty, author of Capital and Ideology

"A thought-provoking read, written in language non-lawyers will be able to grasp."Business and Management

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