6.2 Occult Economies (2)

After reading this article, reflect on the following statement: "I am saying we should contextualize Madoff as an effect of finance capital, rather than a bad apple, just as I am trying to suggest that el millionario's scheme "worked" by mixing development culture with "traditional" beliefs in ways that morphed human connections ("social capital") into money. In so doing I hope to transform the objects of the ugly stereotype of the gullible Maya (or the greedy Jew) into rational moral actors." (p. 216)

6.1 Occult Economies

What, according to Comaroff and Comaroff, is the connection between the rise of so-called "occult economies" in post-apartheid South Africa and the expansion of a global economic regime of neoliberal markets?

5.2 The Magic of the Pyramids

How does the discourses of gender and ethnicity play out in the rise and fall of the pyramid schemes in postsocialist Albania?

Lady Credit

The comparison of credit to a woman in this sense is quite interesting, facetious, and even charismatic despite its bitter nature. This term's origin came into play when people were engaging in financial speculation. In times of mass trust, there would be a bubble formed by hidden financial risk in banks, which led to economic fall outs. In general the notion of this re occurring all through history seems nonsensical, but when lady credit is offering you everything you could ask for, you'd probably say yes and buy into a mass trust scheme. This is where the wifelike aspect of lady credit is personified. However, no man should be foolish enough to trust the bank or a rising stock price to fuel his financial success (let alone develop the same type of relationship and trust in his money that he would have for a wife) but that's unfortunately what many people do. This is where we are introduced to the "prostitute" side of lady credit, where she leaves men that were once well off out in the cold with nothing as she, herself crashes to pieces. The main point being is that lady credit is the personification of a lustful attitude toward money in any form because this type of energy is what destroys homes and families.

4.2 The passions and discipline of economic men

How does Zaloom describe the behavior or traders in the pits? How does she describe the discipline of their trade? More generally, how does Zaloom do an ethnography of financial markets?

4.1 Discourses of Finance - De Goede "Mastering Lady Credit"

In this chapter, de Goede claims that the Financial Revolution that originated in 17th century Europe was not just about new financial instruments but, most importantly, it was about "a rearticulation of moral and political spaces in which these instruments were condoned" (p. 25). In other words, de Goede asks us to trace the shifting histories of the discourses of morality that surround finance. How, according to her research, did these moralities of finance change? How did these changes impact the legitimation of certain financial practices (such as speculative finance)?

3.2 - Financial Bubbles and Crashes in History

Kindleberger and Aliber often discuss the notion of "euphoria" and "irrational exuberance" as an important aspect of financial bubbles. Discuss what do they mean by these terms and how do they see these influencing speculative bubbles?