Review of Lisa Herzog’s ‘Just Financial Markets’

The 2007 financial crisis has deeply shaken the world economy. The causes and consequences of this crisis have been hotly debated in economics ever since. However, the impact of financial markets on justice is also a growing field of study, to which the book recently edited by Lisa Herzog provides a valuable contribution. The book is not intended to tackle technical discussions on the functioning of financial markets and institutions, which are broadly presented in the introduction (chapter 1). Rather, it aims at making clear how financial markets and institutions affect justice and at proposing potential institutional reforms. The book is divided into three parts. The first four chapters scrutinize several possible normative frameworks for studying financial markets beyond the simple ‘free-market’ model. The second part studies the legal framework that applies to financial markets, discusses how it failed to prevent harm and injustices, and proposes reforms. The final part looks at particular financial institutions and analyses how they impact justice.