Westphalia and Finance: The “Cramdown” of Devaluation and Sovereign Bonds

Abstract

Finance underpins the legitimacy of the Westphalian system, as it is integral to its domestic control. Currency derives its value from the sovereign system under which it exists, or in a shared system such as the European Union. Nonetheless, even shared systems can generate severe economic problems such as with weaker EU economies like Greece or Portugal using the euro. Both devaluation and bond issuance is an elitists game at its core, using the levers of the Westphalian state to effectively force a “cramdown” for their largess and fiscal irresponsibility on uneducated and marginalized populations. In the age of social media and instantaneous information, currency devaluations fool no one anymore. Similarly, bond issues, euphemistically, called “sovereigns”, are loans to investors borrowed against a country’s people’s future such as in Argentina, or Venezuela, usually without their consent and dictated on the terms of the foreign lenders. Recent financial innovations such as cross border tax transfer pricing, social media platforms, and crypto or virtual currencies are now presenting an existential financial threat that simply cannot be countenanced under Westphalia.