Synopses & Reviews
Markets are artifacts of languageandmdash;so Douglas R. Holmes argues in this deeply researched look at central banks and the people who run them. Working at the intersection of anthropology, linguistics, and economics, he shows how central bankers have been engaging in communicative experiments that predate the financial crisis and continue to be refined amid its unfolding turmoilandmdash;experiments that do not merely describe the economy, but actually create its distinctive features.
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Holmes examines the New York District Branch of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, and the Bank of England, among others, and shows how officials there have created a new monetary regime that relies on collaboration with the public to achieve the ends of monetary policy. Central bankers, Holmes argues, have shifted the conceptual anchor of monetary affairs away from standards such as gold or fixed exchange rates and toward an evolving relationship with the public, one rooted in sentiments and expectations. Going behind closed doors to reveal the intellectual world of central banks,Economy of Wordsand#160;offers provocative new insights into the way our economic circumstances are conceptualized and ultimately managed.and#160;
Review
and#8220;This remarkable ethnography of monetary policy making by central bankers, and the academics with whom they engage intellectually, sets a new standard for the anthropology of finance. Up to now, we have lacked a careful detailed account of how economic facts are performed rigorous and empirical enough to convince those whose intellectual propensities lie elsewhere.andnbsp;Economy of Wordsandnbsp;is such a book. The weight of the evidence is truly overwhelming, and the breadth of the ethnography, both in the range of central banks the author has accessed and the range of materials and informantsand#8212;from academic theories to policy makers to lower level data collectors to economists to the history of economic thoughtand#8212;is breathtaking. The political and policy implications of Holmes' claims concerning the relationship between central banks and their publics will make this one of the most talked about books of the year. and#8221;
Review
and#8220;This brilliant book tells us how and why central bankers have learned to and#8216;talk to markets.and#8217; For only by convincing markets can they validate their economic forecasts and justify their policy prescriptions. In this eye-opening account markets are discursive formations and social conventions, not products of nature. Based on careful empirical research, analytical rigor, and intellectual imagination, Douglas R. Holmes challenges and enriches his reader on every page. Opening new avenues for research and understanding, this book will become required reading for all serious scholars and students of political economy.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Who would have thought that central banks could become champions of humanities disciplinesand#8212;of language and communication? Douglas R. Holmes insightful new book is the first to examine in detail the global shift from an era when central banks never said anything, to their mystifying mumblings during the 1980s and and#8217;90s, to their targeting audiences and making policies with the full employment of the power of language. J. L. Austin and John Searle could not have imagined a more far-reaching application of doing things with words. Easily the best book on what is happening in global monetary policy and financial stability.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Douglas R. Holmes has performed a uniquely important service by probing the professional intimacy of the banking world. He shows us that economists, despite their claims to scientific precision, often resemble anthropologists reporting from the field.and#160; But, as he demonstrates, they also deploy their narratives to draw their publics into the construction of self-fulfilling prophecies, thereby refashioning economic dynamics to meet each new contingency as it arises.and#160; No one who reads this book will come away still believing that language is immaterial; Holmesand#8217;s elegantly crafted, deeply informed, and wickedly critical analysis demonstrates how the economistsand#8217; rhetoric and narrative strategies shape, rather than follow, the realities of todayand#8217;s wildly unpredictable global economy.and#8221;
Synopsis
In
Out of the Pits, Caitlin Zaloom shows how traders, brokers, and global financial markets have adapted to the digital age. Drawing on her firsthand experiences as a clerk and a trader, as well as on her unusual access to key sites of global finance, she explains how changes at the worldand#8217;s leading financial exchanges have transformed economic cultures and the craft of speculation; how people and places are responding to the digital transition; how traders are remaking themselves to compete in the contemporary marketplace; and how brokers, business managers, and software designers are collaborating to build new markets.and#160;A penetrating and richly detailed account of how cities, culture, and technology shape everyday life in the global economy,
Out of the Pits will be required reading for anyone who has ever wondered how financial markets work.
and#8220;Zaloomand#8217;s superb book is a double-site ethnography [that shows how] the appearance of chaos hid a complex social order, which Zaloom delineates beautifully.and#8221;and#8212;The London Review of Books
About the Author
Caitlin Zaloom is a cultural anthropologist and an associate professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University. Her research on traders and technology has been featured in the New York Times and on the BBC.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Finance from the Floor
Chapter 1and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Materials of the Market
Chapter 2and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Trapped in the Pits
Chapter 3and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Social Experiments in London Markets
Chapter 4and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Work of Risk
Chapter 5and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Economic Men
Chapter 6and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Discipline of the Speculator
Chapter 7and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Ambiguous Numbers
Conclusion: Practical Experiments
Notes
Bibliography
Index