The fundamental obsenity of "financial markets" is the treatment of human firms as commodities to be bought and sold as pieces of property. It would be the same problem if we also allowed towns or cities to be bought and sold, e.g., Trump's idea of buying Greenland since "It's just a real estate deal". Is buying and selling companies of people "just a capital asset deal"? That problem is not the extent of the market but that such things are considered marketable in the first place.
But even if the human rental or employment contract were abolished and firms could be no more bought and sold like towns are not bought and sold today, you would still have the problem of the over-financialization of the markets for debt instruments--like the financial problems that arose from the repackaging of home mortgages and the eventual collapse of the real estate markets. Problems and waste, yes, but secondary ones.
Financialisation and commodification of life is an irreversible trend under the command of neoliberal politicians. Bill Gates talked recently about the unfairness of women working in the home and raising children not having that work being given an objective, financial value. His lament superficially seems sympathetic to some sort of more equitable outcome but the course being plotted is dystopian. The goal is to put a $ value on every act in life and to do that you'll need an incredibly massive bureaucratic financial sector that reaches into every aspect of your daily life, eventually controlling it completely. The trend is clear. Finance will end up being the economy.
I always think about the study by Gerald Epstein and Juan Antonio Montecino, Overcharged, where they estimate finance has cost every family in America 170k. Imagine that for a stimulus check!
there's another important scene in Margin Call. About 1hr16 minutes in, or about 30 minutes remaining. (whichever makes it easier for you to find) When Seth and Will are in the car, right after Will answers that Seth will be fired. Essentially, they're "the bad guys" but what they do allows "normal people" to have what they really want and live beyond their means.
Globalization and technology have expanded the role of finance in recent years, by making it easier and faster to move capital anywhere, anytime. The relentless emphasis on return on investment and building of wealth creates lucrative incentives to those who can deliver results. Talent generally goes where the money is.
The fundamental obsenity of "financial markets" is the treatment of human firms as commodities to be bought and sold as pieces of property. It would be the same problem if we also allowed towns or cities to be bought and sold, e.g., Trump's idea of buying Greenland since "It's just a real estate deal". Is buying and selling companies of people "just a capital asset deal"? That problem is not the extent of the market but that such things are considered marketable in the first place.
But even if the human rental or employment contract were abolished and firms could be no more bought and sold like towns are not bought and sold today, you would still have the problem of the over-financialization of the markets for debt instruments--like the financial problems that arose from the repackaging of home mortgages and the eventual collapse of the real estate markets. Problems and waste, yes, but secondary ones.
Financialisation and commodification of life is an irreversible trend under the command of neoliberal politicians. Bill Gates talked recently about the unfairness of women working in the home and raising children not having that work being given an objective, financial value. His lament superficially seems sympathetic to some sort of more equitable outcome but the course being plotted is dystopian. The goal is to put a $ value on every act in life and to do that you'll need an incredibly massive bureaucratic financial sector that reaches into every aspect of your daily life, eventually controlling it completely. The trend is clear. Finance will end up being the economy.
I always think about the study by Gerald Epstein and Juan Antonio Montecino, Overcharged, where they estimate finance has cost every family in America 170k. Imagine that for a stimulus check!
there's another important scene in Margin Call. About 1hr16 minutes in, or about 30 minutes remaining. (whichever makes it easier for you to find) When Seth and Will are in the car, right after Will answers that Seth will be fired. Essentially, they're "the bad guys" but what they do allows "normal people" to have what they really want and live beyond their means.
Globalization and technology have expanded the role of finance in recent years, by making it easier and faster to move capital anywhere, anytime. The relentless emphasis on return on investment and building of wealth creates lucrative incentives to those who can deliver results. Talent generally goes where the money is.