Welcome to our #175 weekly newsletter.
“For women taking control of their financial future”
-Jana Hlistova
From The Purse
In this week’s newsletter, we highlight a short extract from The Purse Podcast interview with feminist economist, Edith Kuiper.
We talk about why we need to make women visible in economics and therefore the need to rewrite the history of economic thought.
This is such a special and important interview which highlights Edith Kuiper’s vital work and contribution, based on her extensive research and her recent book called: A Herstory of Economics (2022).
Listen to the full interview here.
***
And you can review the news in brief so you stay on top of global financial, economic and investing trends.
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Until next week,
Jana
Women and wealth: rewriting the history of economic thought
Edith Kuiper joins us on The Purse Podcast to talk about why we need to rewrite the history of economic by including women.
Edith Kuiper joined us on The Purse Podcast.
Edith is Associate Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz, updates New York.
Her research has been in feminist economics and in the history and philosophy of economics. She is currently a visiting researcher at the Centre of Resilience and Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge.
Edith has recently published A Herstory of Economics (2022).
In this podcast interview we talk about: why we need to make women visible in economics and therefore rewrite the history of economic history.
Here is a short extract from the interview:
Jana: …You talk about middle and upper class women; the handling of money by women was considered so very unfeminine and vulgar, even. Working for money was just not the done thing if you were middle or upper class.
But there are echos of this to this very day. Money is still considered taboo. Women talking about money is still considered somehow, unladylike. And so we see the manifestation of this narrative and these norms that don't help women build the economic wealth they need to sustain themselves over their lifetime...
Edith Kuiper’s response:
It has serious ramifications.
To some extent it is leftover from times when that counted much stronger. My mother was from a upper middle class background and working for pay was just not on the horizon because that was considered ‘ordinaire’…
But, to put it in a much broader context:
What happened in the industrial revolution was that productive activities before that were taking place in the household; they were moved out of the house and they were concentrated in workshops and industries that were dominated by men.
So English marriage laws separated wealthy women from their wealth and assigned it to husbands to ‘play with’.
And then you get this middle class morality that develops a system of norms and values that separates women even further from their capital.
As they were not considered, at least they were told, that they were not considered to be able to make any decisions about their own capital.
Money therefore was considered dirty: it was not to be thought or talked about, especially not for women (also, for some men), but it was simply not considered decent.
So what you see…. is that men develop in terms of political economy, a cohesive theoretical framework and language they defined and pursue ‘the interest of man’.
That is such a strong tool.
It's like developing their own language. And women did not have access to that framework nor to developing that framework; to developing that language. And that language was developed by men to further their own wealth economic interest..
So, in my view, over time, the exclusion of women and the activity has been a very strong driver for the direction of development of the economic thought.
While women obtained access to education over the 19th century; they start fighting back, and they do that very successfully.
They get access to education in the second half of the 18th century. They obtain political power; the power to vote over the course of the 20th century…
…but women have been successfully excluded from economic power. And that's still going on.
From the perspective of financial power in particular; the stock markets, the banking world: the concentration of financial power has been able to shield itself most effectively from women getting access to power; women getting access to decision-making in the banking industry.
So, this is not a coincidence, that we are talking about the financial economy:
…the fact that the banking; the financial services industry has become so central in our economy and the fact that this is exactly where women still have to fight really hard to get into the industry (in a decent percentage of representation).
This is not a coincidence: where economic power is located and where women still do not have the access.
But after the (financial) crisis of 2008/2009, I think there has been an emerging awareness under at least feminist economists and women elsewhere in the field, that the stock market is not value neutral, the banking world is not value neutral.
Women need to have access to these industries because when you give women access to these industries, the industries perform better.
You get more soundly based decision-making in what I call the global casino, that was emerging in the 2006-2008 period, that totally went out of hand….
Listen here for the full interview
News in Brief
Financial news
US M2 (Money Supply) crashes in March, ringing deflationary alarm bells. US M2 money supply was $20.8tn in March, a sharp decline of 4.1% YoY, largest decline since data was first introduced in 1959, almost twice rate of prev month, while indicator has also been negative for 4 consecutive months.
US economy is losing steam: The US GDP grew 1.1% in Q1 2023 ann, slower than the expected 1.9% & slower than previous quarter (2.6%).
US banking crisis: federal body prepares to put First Republic into receivership. Move comes as Federal Reserve report admits it failed to take ‘forceful enough action’ before Silicon Valley Bank collapse.
Hedge fund manager Stan Druckenmiller told the FT that short USD is his only high-conviction call at the moment as Euro dropped <$1.10.
ECB wakes up to “greedflation” as key culprit in price struggle. Profit margins outpacing wages as inflation driver since 2021. Swelling earnings generated More than two thirds of inflation at end of last year. ‘Tit-for-tat’ dynamic risks stoking second-round effects.
The ECB balance sheet is shrinking again. Total assets dropped €16.7bn in the past week on ECB QT. ECB balance sheet now at €7,714.2bn, equal to 58% of Eurozone GDP vs Fed's 33%, SNB's 113%, BoJ's 131%.
UK inflation will fall rapidly, says ex-Bank of England economist. ‘Pretty much nailed on’ that the rate will halve in next six months, according to Andy Haldane.
Bank of England's money-printing spree to cost taxpayers £200bn over the next decade. The Bank warned that taxpayers faced an even higher bill of almost £300bn if interest rates suddenly spiked.
Asking price of properties popular with UK first-time buyers hits record. Average of £224,963 for homes with one or two bedrooms is 2% higher than a year ago, according to Rightmove.
Shares of Banco Santander plunges 5% due to outflows of Spanish deposits.
LVMH has placed in the global top 10 with a stock market value of ~$500bn and is hot on Tesla's heels.
Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs
Bitcoin rallies after renewed selling of First Republic stock revived concerns about health of US banking sector. The largest cryptocurrency briefly topped $30k, highest since.
Ethereum, only managed to add 2.7% to its value this week and currently trades for $1,907.
The biggest rallies among leading cryptocurrencies came from Solana, which grew 11% and is now worth $23.35, and ICP blew up 16.6% to change hands at $6.58.
Bitcoin transactions reach record high as Inscriptions surge. According to The Block's data, the on-chain metric reached a record high of over 408,000 transactions. The previous record was just over 406,000.
Berenberg Analysts: Bitcoin 'could rally' near next year's halving event. Analysts suggest the next Bitcoin halving event could, yet again, bring the leading cryptocurrency out of its crypto winter.
Lightning Labs aims to help 'bring bitcoin to billions' with latest upgrade. The tech startup aims to continue to make it easier for people to use the Lightning Network.
Gary Gensler says SEC believes Ethereum is not a security—At MIT in 2018.
Mastercard teaming with Solana, Polygon on new Crypto Credential standards. Wallet providers Bit2Me, Lirium, Mercado Bitcoin and Uphold are also joining the initiative for cross border payments targeting Latin America.
Adidas and Pharrell release digital clothing for doodles NFT holders. Musician Pharrell Williams headlines the Doodles NFT bundle with digital and physical gear from Adidas, Human Made, and more.
The Purse Podcast
We cover the following in our conversation:
Making women visible in economics
Rewriting the history of economic history
The impact on women's financial well-being
Closing the gender pay gap and women's work
The world of finance and why women have been largely absent
Gender equality and gender equity in the workplace
And more+
Coffee Break? Read This
Why do we buy into ‘stealth wealth’ and the class who wear it?
My husband won’t lift a finger to help me. Should I stay or go?
We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka.
The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2023 & All Rights Reserved.
The Purse provides content for informational purposes only, we do not provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.
Share this post