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Contemporary financial markets have been characterized by sociocultural phenomena such as "meme stocks", the Gamestop short squeeze, and "You Only Live Once (YOLO) trading". These are movements led by small-scale retail investors banding together to participate forcefully in financial markets through decentralized but coordinated actions. This book deploys many different subdisciplines to explore the recent ‘power grabbing’ of retail investors and the online environment that enables them to join the ranks of major financial players, and participate in contemporary capitalism. It offers multiple perspectives on the genesis, role, motivations, power, and future prospects of retail investors as a force in contemporary financial markets. Drawing upon the insights of authors hailing from many different countries, the book frames YOLO capitalism through numerous angles that help to explain the context and the importance of activist retail investors in modern financial markets, and thereby explore the possibilities of a transformed financial future with much wider small-scale participation. The book assesses the potential of online - and other - communities in enabling global coordination in impacting or even driving financial and crypto markets, and the challenges that come with it and weighs the competing narratives both positive and negative regarding YOLO capitalism. It strikes a balanced assessment of their legal, cultural, behavioural, economic, and political roles in modern finance. This book will be of interest to a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary audience of scholars in financial markets, financial regulation, political economy, public administration, macroeconomics, corporate governance, and the philosophy and the sociology of finance.

The spread of COVID-19 has forced many people around the world to adjust the manner in which they relate to and participate in the goings-on of the outside world. This article examines a seemingly novel attempt by a few amateur investors to take on the might of hedge funds’ cutting-edge algorithms. Our analysis includes an examination of short-selling, online investment communities and the problem of collective action they face. This piece examines how Wall Street betters on Reddit, with little or no experience, brought a new series of questions about regulation and speculative investing to the fore. We close by reflecting on the kinds of questions that people who are interested in the stock market (no matter their ability) might ask themselves in the very near future.

Purpose This paper investigates the impact of moving Central Counterparty Clearing Houses (CCPs) that clear euro-denominated transactions to the Eurozone after the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. Prior to Brexit, the City of London had a dominant position in euro-clearing, but in the aftermath of Brexit, clearing houses might decide to move to the EU27. This paper aims to investigate the impact of moving euro-clearing to the EU27. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides an economic, political and legal investigation based on desk research. It studies the relevant materials, as they relate to the functioning of Central Counterparty Clearing in the aftermath of Brexit, with specific attention to the potential shift of locations and oversight. Findings The development of a EU27 financial hub and the possibility to increase oversight over euro-denominated financial transactions, which were partly at the roots of the financial and Eurozone crisis, could strengthen the market shaping of European financial markets. However, localizing euro-denominated transactions in Europe could potentially give rise to efficiency losses and a higher risk for companies and investors. Furthermore, the European regulatory framework currently faces certain weaknesses, obstructing the regulatory potential of the EU. Research limitations/implications As the Brexit negotiations are not yet finished, this paper does not intend to set out a definite outcome of the processes currently taking place. Practical implications Shifting locations and oversight of CCPs as a result of Brexit could lead to the establishment of a large financial centre within the EU-27. At the same time, it is to be expected that such a development will have a significant impact on the financial infrastructure of the City of London. Originality/value There exists an important trade-off with regard to shifting locations that need to be at the forefront of the discussions and the negotiations when dealing with Brexit. This seems to be neglected in a lot of the current policy debates. This paper takes stock of the ongoing debate and how it relates to the functioning of CCPs.

International trade and investment declined sharply in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. To coordinate policy responses in the wake of this crisis, the Group of Twenty (G20) was elevated to the leaders’ level and the BRICS grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was founded as a summit to gather leaders from the most important emerging economies. This contribution reviews the work of both fora to restore trade and investment. We show that, despite efforts to stimulate cross-border trade and investment, neither has returned to pre-crisis levels. This is especially the case regarding international investment for the G20 members, although the data show a revival of trade. In general, BRICS members have been able to recover more quickly. Although their decisions have not always been implemented by members, the G20 and BRICS have proven to be effective fora for coordinating efforts and compliance has been rather high. However, this contribution argues that more can be done, especially regarding investments. The future will tell whether these two bodies will continue to be complimentary and whether they will be able to withstand protectionist and nationalist reflexes

International trade and investments declined sharply in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. To coordinate policy responses in the wake of this crisis, the Group of Twenty (G20) was elevated to the leaders’ level and the BRICS grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was founded as a summit to gather leaders from the most important emerging economies. This contribution reviews the work of both fora to restore trade and investment. We show that, despite efforts to stimulate cross-border trade and investments, neither has returned to pre-crisis levels. This is especially the case regarding international investment for the G20 members, although the data show a revival of trade. In general, BRICS members have been able to recover more quickly. Although their decisions have not always been implemented by members, the G20 and BRICS have proven to be effective fora for coordinating efforts and compliance has been rather high. However, this contribution argues that more can be done, especially regarding investments. The future will tell whether these two bodies will continue to be complimentary and whether they will be able to withstand protectionist and nationalist reflexes.

After years of consolidation in the industry, the beer industry has recently witnessed a wave of entries by small and medium-sized “craft” brewers. As brewing beer requires a significant investment in operational facilities, many small start-up breweries have resorted to contract brewing in their start-up phase. By collaborating with a contract brewer, who typically has already made the investment in larger brewing facilities, craft brewers can benefit from the economies of scale and scope realized at the contract brewer, and slowly assess whether the market demand for their beer would require the establishment of their own facilities. As such, contract brewers have greatly accommodated the recent rise of craft breweries. However, if the demand for craft beer saturates, the impact on contract brewers will be significant.

Today the hops industry seems to be enjoying rising popularity. After decades of consolidation in the beer industry, the recent craft beer movement has resulted in a higher demand for hops. Historically used to increase the preservation and shelf life of beers, hops are nowadays essential for the more diverse tastes of certain craft beers. On the supply side, hop farmers have increased their production in recent years in response to the higher interest in their products. However, specialization of hop farmers in hops that are in demand by the craft beer sector can lead to higher price fluctuations in more segmented markets, where hop consumers and hop producers are tied to each other by longer future contracts and sunk costs of investment in cultivated areas. This might create problems were craft beers to lose their appeal to consumers.

This article considers how the European Union (EU), as the most developed regional organization and as one of the strongest global economic players, deals with the global summitry of club-like entities such as the Group of 20 (G20) and the BRICS grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The EU, the G20 and the BRICS share similar ambitions, namely addressing global (or regional) cross-border challenges by increasing cooperation and coordination at the international level. Even though the EU is a fond supporter of global decision-making bodies, the rise of these informal bodies challenges the EU’s approach to global governance, which relies heavily on effective multilateralism supported by a rules-based approach. Because several of the BRICS and G20 members favour a more relationship-based approach focused on consensus and coordination, these bodies challenge the European approach. While a clear European strategy to deal with informal bodies is thus needed, a coherent and consistent approach is missing. This is evidenced by the lack of any reference to the BRICS and only a cursory reference to the G20 in the EU’s 2016 global strategy, and by the fact that the EU currently has only bilateral strategic partnerships with most of the G20 and BRICS members. This article argues that, given the particular challenges these bodies pose and their remarkable rise in recent years, a fully fledged EU strategy towards the G20 and the BRICS should be developed.

Approaches to the financial crisis have been made on both the EU level and the level of the EU Member States and internationally through the G20. Wouters and Van Kerckhoven argue that the regulatory action that was taken on the level of the EU, although far from perfect, has nonetheless been supportive in limiting the consequences of the crisis.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is one of the most visible and contested institutions within the global economic governance architecture. Both proponents and opponents of trade liberalization regularly voice discontent with the institution’s functioning and its effect on the economies of its members. Of particular interest is the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), often described as the organization’s flagship body. The WTO DSU helps parties to settle disputes related to the interpretation and enforcement of the provisions drafted and agreed upon over several trade negotiation rounds. This paper presents a game-theoretic approach to analyze whether the WTO DSU ensures equal access and outcomes to all parties who are part of a trade dispute. It particularly addresses the costs of litigation. The paper argues that due to these issues, developing countries will not reap equal benefits from the usage of the WTO DSU as their developed counterparts. Developing countries will, due to a relative higher cost of WTO litigation, be worse off, both as a plaintiff and as a defendant. They will file less complaints and settle for less beneficial outcomes. We also find that bilateral settlement is a very important feature in the WTO DSU.

In recent years, several countries have moved to a more federal state structure. In particular in Europe, regional decision-making is on the rise. In order to evaluate these dynamics, this paper looks into the cases of Belgium and Switzerland. Both countries share a large number of characteristics, but have witnessed moves in opposite directions regarding the decentralization of decision-making powers. Whereas Belgium has increasingly hollowed out its central decision-making, Switzerland’s regional powers have transferred more competences to the central level. This paper argues that these differing dynamics are the result of socio-economic variables. In particular, the decision to (de)centralize is the result of a trade-off between heterogeneity of preferences, and economics of scale. The former has been increasing in Belgium, resulting in more decentralization, while the latter has pushed the Swiss cantons to centralize more competences.

In 2001, China finally joined the WTO. The accession of China was looked forward to by many WTO members and China itself. However, observers had some fears that the Chinese accession would prove to be a Trojan horse, disrupting the working of the WTO. This paper looks into the Chinese accession and its involvement in the WTO Dispute Settlement and argues that these fears seem so far to be unfounded. Em 2001, a China finalmente aderiu à OMC. A adesão da China foi esperada por muitos membros da OMC e da própria China. No entanto, os observadores tinham alguns receios de que a adesão da China viria a ser um cavalo de Tróia, interrompendo o funcionamento da OMC. Este artigo analisa a adesão da China e seu envolvimento na Solução de Controvérsias da OMC e defende que estes receios parecem ser infundados.

This working paper analyses the relationship between the European Union and the G20, with an emphasis on how the two bodies have impacted and shaped each other’s agendas. Both entities mark, in very different ways, a changing world order in which states are cooperating ever more closely in order to tackle transnational challenges. However, the relationship between both entities deserves more attention. In this working paper, both the representation of the EU (and its Member States) at the G20 and the impact of G20 decisions on EU legislation are analysed. We argue that the relationship between both organizations is at the same time problematic and symbiotic. Symbiotic as the EU has influenced the functioning of the G20 while the G20 agenda has itself had an impact on EU legislation. It is problematic in the sense that the EU is arguably over-represented in the G20, and there is little in the EU’s treaties to guide the relationship between the EU and global processes such as the G20.

This contribution critically analyses the recent developments in the relationship between the G20 and the OECD. The OECD has been one of the key economic institutions ever since its establishment. Recently however, its limited membership and the engagement of other international organizations in its traditional issue fields increased the fear that the organization might become less relevant within the global economic architecture. In first instance, the emergence of the G20 reinforced this threat. However, thanks to the activism of its Secretary-General and the appealing pool of knowledge and expertise in its secretariat, the OECD was able to turn the latter threat into an opportunity to revive itself. The OECD increasingly performs operational, implementation and monitoring assignments for the G20, which itself lacks such capabilities. Recent G20 commmuniques support the claim that both entities increasingly cooperate in order to solve their respective shortcomings. The increased cooperation allowed the OECD to regain its relevance within the global economic governance architecture, while the G20’s functioning is strengthened thanks to the contributions of the OECD on a growing number of issues. However, the growing concresence of both organization raises some concerns about the role and functioning of both entities in the global economic governance architecture.

Ecological Tax Reform (ETR) is featuring high on the policy agenda. The key idea is to shift the tax burden from 'goods', such as productive labour, to 'bads' such as energy use and environmental pollution. Since the 1980s, most OECD countries have installed several environmental taxes and several reports provide an assessment of these instruments. Attention for ETR in developing countries is of a more recent nature and very little information on their ETRs is available. This review paper contributes to the effort by screening nine African countries: Algeria, Benin, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, Niger, Senegal, Uganda and South Africa. Data on environmental taxes was collected through various sources. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of the art with regards to environmental taxation in these selected countries. We show that there are currently several interesting initiatives in several countries.