Morality and Modelling in a Wall Street Trading Room

Daniel Beunza in conversation with Will Davies

6-7.30pm, 11th December

RHB137a, Goldsmiths

In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, policy-makers, citizens and critics demanded to know more about what went on inside financial institutions that generated such devastation. In his new book, Taking the Floor: Models, Morals and Management in a Wall Street Trading Room, Daniel Beunza (Cass Business School, London) draws on more than a decade of close ethnographic research in Wall Street, to look at how economic modelling and moral judgement interact, potentially resulting in predatory lending and systemic risk. Beunza’s book breaks new ground in cultural economy and the social studies of finance, by highlighting this interface of morality and models in markets. At this event, he will discuss the book with Will Davies, Co-Director of PERC, and explore the implications of his analysis for economic sociology, financial reform and sustainable prosperity.

This event is jointly hosted by PERC and the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity. All are welcome and no registration is required.

For details on how to find Goldsmiths and RHB137a, click here.

You can listen to a recording of this event on our Soundcloud here: