Greiner Examines the Role of Financialization in Sustaining Unsustainable Consumption in Affluent Nations
Posted: 5/21/2026 (CSDE Research)
In a recent article in Environmental Sociology, CSDE Affiliate Patrick Greiner (Sociology) and co-authors explore the relationship between financialization and the material footprint of nations — a measure of the raw material requirements needed to sustain a population’s consumption. Using panel regression and comparative analyses of affluent nations, the study finds that financialization helps uphold unsustainable consumption patterns, and that high-consuming nations tend to exhibit lower rates of economic growth and higher rates of financialization relative to lower-consuming nations in the sample. The authors argue that additional theorizing is needed to characterize the linkages between economic inequality, exploitation, and intensified environmental withdrawals in the world’s wealthiest nations.