Capital Flows

Global Economy

Financial Systems and Governance

Geoeconomics

• Capital Flows • Global Economy • Financial Systems and Governance • Geoeconomics

Dissecting the Currents of Money and Influence

Finance and Markets is the space where Liberal Briefs examines the forces shaping the global economy, financial systems, and capital flows. This section explores how fiscal and monetary policy, corporate governance, and market structures interact with politics, society, and strategy.

From sovereign debt crises and central bank independence to ESG investing and the geopolitics of capital, we analyse how financial decisions reverberate beyond balance sheets. Our work interrogates the architecture of global finance, from stock exchanges and shadow banking to private equity and public markets, and the power dynamics that underpin them.

We aim to bridge rigorous economic analysis with an understanding of human behaviour, institutional design, and the moral dilemmas embedded in financial systems, offering readers clarity on how money moves the world.

Andrew O. McLeese Andrew O. McLeese

Fixing Herding in Equity Crowdfunding: How Better Platform Design and ECSPR Can Protect Retail Investors

Equity crowdfunding promises democratised finance, yet platform mechanics often turn social proof into distortion. Building on recent HEC Paris research (Åstebro, Fernández, Lovo, Vulkan), this piece argues that silence, not hype, is the hidden killer via “abstention cascades”. We translate the evidence into a regulator-ready design agenda: sequence disclosures for learning rather than FOMO, surface anchor-quality signals over raw counts, use call-window matching to reduce end-rush herding, and align ECSPR/ESMA guidance with behavioural reality. The result is a credible path to protect retail investors, improve selection, and scale Europe’s crowdfunding markets without sacrificing integrity.

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