Synopses & Reviews
Financial collapsesandmdash;whether of the junk bond market, the Internet bubble, or the highly leveraged housing marketandmdash;are often explained as the inevitable result of market cycles: What goes up must come down. In
Liquidated, Karen Ho punctures the aura of the abstract, all-powerful market to show how financial markets, and particularly booms and busts, are constructed. Through an in-depth investigation into the everyday experiences and ideologies of Wall Street investment bankers, Ho describes how a financially dominant but highly unstable market system is understood, justified, and produced through the restructuring of corporations and the larger economy.
Ho, who worked at an investment bank herself, argues that bankersandrsquo; approaches to financial markets and corporate America are inseparable from the structures and strategies of their workplaces. Her ethnographic analysis of those workplaces is filled with the voices of stressed first-year associates, overworked and alienated analysts, undergraduates eager to be hired, and seasoned managing directors. Recruited from elite universities as andldquo;the best and the brightest,andrdquo; investment bankers are socialized into a world of high risk and high reward. They are paid handsomely, with the understanding that they may be let go at any time. Their workplace culture and networks of privilege create the perception that job insecurity builds character, and employee liquidity results in smart, efficient business. Based on this culture of liquidity and compensation practices tied to profligate deal-making, Wall Street investment bankers reshape corporate America in their own image. Their mission is the creation of shareholder value, but Ho demonstrates that their practices and assumptions often produce crises instead. By connecting the values and actions of investment bankers to the construction of markets and the restructuring of U.S. corporations, Liquidated reveals the particular culture of Wall Street often obscured by triumphalist readings of capitalist globalization.
Review
andldquo;[E]ngaging and hard to put down. . . Karen Hoandrsquo;s book is a must-read for anyone contemplating joining one of the major global banks. . . . Actually, even faculty of our elite schools are starting to question why so many of their graduates end up in finance. Karen Hoandrsquo;s book should be required reading for students and faculty at these schools.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Although written for a mostly academic audience, the book becomes easily digestible because of the summaries Ho adds in each section. She connects well the main theme throughout any areas of the book. Hoandrsquo;s views should not be considered andlsquo;anti-Wall Streetandrsquo; but viewed as an analysis of Wall Streetandrsquo;s effect on the American community and the financial markets. This book should be read by Wall Street investment bankers and corporate managers to better understand the social values and responsibilities of corporations and the role that they play in the American community.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;After several decades when anthropologists at last overcame their inhibitions concerning the study of money, Karen Hoandrsquo;s book . . . seems to mark a coming of age for the contemporary discipline. . . . The intelligence of its author shines through Liquidated. . . . I found it rewarding to read and reflect on, a landmark in the burgeoning anthropology of money.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Karen Ho has picked an excellent time to publish her fascinating new study . . . of Wall Street banks. . . . As field-sites go, Wall Street is not classic anthropological territory: ethnographers typically work in remote, third-world societies. . . . Ho nevertheless embarked on her study in classic anthropological manner: by blending into the background, listening intently, in a non-judgmental way andndash; and then trying to join up the dots to get a andlsquo;holisticandrsquo; picture of how the culture works. That patient ethnographic analysis has produced a fascinating portrait that will be refreshingly novel to most bankers.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;The bookandrsquo;s great strength lies in Hoandrsquo;s careful observation of the means by which people succeed or fail on Wall Street, as she punctures many of the assumptions about how markets work.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Karen Ho is my hero. . . . Her ethnography of investment bankers in the late 1990s, Liquidated, depicts the bravado, callousness, and contradictions that are the hallmarks of investment banking culture.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Liquidated is what many of us have been waiting for: a serious ethnographic consideration of finance capital. Using the best kinds of cultural and social analysis, Karen Ho gets inside Wall Street assumptions, turning them around to upend each other.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Weandrsquo;re pretty familiar with the economic rationale for the regime of cost-cutting and downsizing throughout corporate America in recent decades. But Karen Hoandrsquo;s research greatly enriches our understanding of how Wall Streetandrsquo;s own peculiar culture of transient relationships and relentless competition has contributed to the shareholder revolution. And, along the way, her interviews and fieldwork offer a very revealing picture of the mind of Wall Street. A fascinating and important book.andrdquo;
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;
Review
andldquo;Liquidated is a must-read book for anyone interested in how legions of recruits from Ivy League colleges come to espouse and enact the twisted bundle of class interests and market ideology that constitutes neoliberal capitalism.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;
Liquidated is an interesting description of many of the practices and orientations that exist in large investment banks, one that confirms what the reader may suspect: that these institutions are forcing-grounds for the sort of
hubris and invulnerability that goes with the phrase andlsquo;Masters of the Universeandrsquo;, the incomprehensible money that sales staff receive, and the idea that they are andlsquo;doing Godandrsquo;s workandrsquo;. It also, however, indicates the reverse of the strength of the social studies of finance. Liquidated may help explain why those in
investment banks think and operate in the ways that they do.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;[A] unique portrait of the industry that asks pertinent questions about constant change, job insecurity, and the bankerandrsquo;s identity. . . . Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street asks many questions that those who work in the investment field should ask themselves. . . . Although many in the financial industry will not agree with Hoandrsquo;s hypotheses and conclusions, they will be challenged by the questions she raises and enthralled by the body of fieldwork she presents.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;For an alternative perspective on last yearandrsquo;s events, I recommend Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street. . . [T]he insights are highly pertinent to the events of 2008, since this ethnography provides a wider cultural context and analysis than most journalistic books.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Hoandrsquo;s refreshing ethnography of the daily lives of Wall Street investment bankers . . . outlines a web of practices, beliefs and structures that may be vital to understanding what keeps the market system in place despite built-in instabilities.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Ho's study shows the intense competitiveness that is instilled in these primarily Ivy League recruits even before they are finished with their Bachelor's degrees. And she examines the myth that stockowners and companies are best served by maximizing shareholder profits. If anything, this book gives faces to the people who work in that abstract entity called Wall Street that seems to affect our world so much of late. I highly recommend it, especially if you have no idea how the world of high finance operates.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;The book contains many wonderful insights, and is a veritable mine of quotations from Wall Street participants. . . . The book is, moreover, extremely well written throughout . . . . [A]n informed and informative text.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;What could be more timely than this fascinating and highly readable investigation of the culture of Wall Street? With Liquidated, Karen Ho takes us into the workaday world of investment banking before the crisis, showing us the roots of the risk-taking that drew lavish compensation packages and brought the world financial system to the brink of collapse. A significant contribution both to the anthropological and wider social scientific literature on financial markets and globalization, as well as to the urgent public debate over the power of financial institutions in contemporary American society.andrdquo;
Synopsis
An ethnography of Wall Street, investment bankers and the cultural logics of finance.
Synopsis
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.
and#160;
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;
About the Author
“[E]ngaging and hard to put down. . . Karen Ho’s book is a must-read for anyone contemplating joining one of the major global banks. . . . Actually, even faculty of our elite schools are starting to question why so many of their graduates end up in finance. Karen Ho’s book should be required reading for students and faculty at these schools.” - Ben Lorica,
Quant Network“Although written for a mostly academic audience, the book becomes easily digestible because of the summaries Ho adds in each section. She connects well the main theme throughout any areas of the book. Ho’s views should not be considered ‘anti-Wall Street’ but viewed as an analysis of Wall Street’s effect on the American community and the financial markets. This book should be read by Wall Street investment bankers and corporate managers to better understand the social values and responsibilities of corporations and the role that they play in the American community.” - Linda Kee-Koa,
International Examiner“Karen Ho has picked an excellent time to publish her fascinating new study . . . of Wall Street banks. . . . As field-sites go, Wall Street is not classic anthropological territory: ethnographers typically work in remote, third-world societies. . . . Ho nevertheless embarked on her study in classic anthropological manner: by blending into the background, listening intently, in a non-judgmental way – and then trying to join up the dots to get a ‘holistic’ picture of how the culture works. That patient ethnographic analysis has produced a fascinating portrait that will be refreshingly novel to most bankers.” - Gillian Tett,
Financial Times“The book’s great strength lies in Ho’s careful observation of the means by which people succeed or fail on Wall Street, as she punctures many of the assumptions about how markets work.” - Keir Martin,
Times Literary Supplement“Karen Ho is my hero. . . . Her ethnography of investment bankers in the late 1990s, Liquidated, depicts the bravado, callousness, and contradictions that are the hallmarks of investment banking culture.” - Mitchel Y. Abolafia, American Journal of Sociology“Liquidated is what many of us have been waiting for: a serious ethnographic consideration of finance capital. Using the best kinds of cultural and social analysis, Karen Ho gets inside Wall Street assumptions, turning them around to upend each other.”—Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, co-editor of Word in Motion and author of Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection“We’re pretty familiar with the economic rationale for the regime of cost-cutting and downsizing throughout corporate America in recent decades. But Karen Ho’s research greatly enriches our understanding of how Wall Street’s own peculiar culture of transient relationships and relentless competition has contributed to the shareholder revolution. And, along the way, her interviews and fieldwork offer a very revealing picture of the mind of Wall Street. A fascinating and important book.”—Doug Henwood, editor of the Left Business Observer and author of Wall Street: How It Works and For Whom“What could be more timely than this fascinating and highly readable investigation of the culture of Wall Street? With Liquidated, Karen Ho takes us into the workaday world of investment banking before the crisis, showing us the roots of the risk-taking that drew lavish compensation packages and brought the world financial system to the brink of collapse. A significant contribution both to the anthropological and wider social scientific literature on financial markets and globalization, as well as to the urgent public debate over the power of financial institutions in contemporary American society.”—Bill Maurer, author of Pious Property: Islamic Mortgages in the United States
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Anthropology Goes to Wall Street 1
1. Biographies of Hegemony: The Culture of Smartness and the Recruitment and Construction of Investment Bankers 39
2. Wall Street's Orientation: Exploitation, Empowerment, and the Politics of Hard Work 73
3. Wall Street Historiographies and the Shareholder Value Revolution 122
4. The Neoclassical Roots and Origin Narratives of Shareholder Value 169
5. Downsizers Downsized: Job Insecurity and Investment Banking Corporate Culture 213
6. Liquid Lives, Compensation Schemes, and the Making of (Unsustainable) Financial Markets 249
7. Leveraging Dominance and Crises through the Global 294
Notes 325
References 353
Index 369