Household Finance in Contemporary Capitalism: Facts in Search of Theory

Both International and Comparative Political Economy have a blind spot where households – and particularly households' finances – are concerned. This is a problem. Household financial activities have a large and growing impact on economic outcomes; however, our understanding of the underlying causal mechanisms remains weak. This weakness stems from the fact that discussions of household finance are limited – and what discussions are taking place are spread across scholarly communities that don’t always communicate well with one another. This paper attempts to rectify that problem. It surveys the existing theoretical treatments of household financial activities, provides data showing that those activities are important, and lays out both a framework and a research agenda for examining the role of household finance in contemporary capitalism. In doing so, it reveals opportunities for cross-pollination between IPE, CPE, and scholarship concerning "financialization.