On 2010-02-26, at 9:49 AM, brad bauerly wrote:
> On the issue of finance and derivatives as smart or stupid- I cannot
> recommend strongly enough Dick Bryan and Michael Rafferty's book Capitalism
> with Derivatives. Not only does it show that financial derivatives mark a
> new period of capitalism- with associated shifts in the ownership and
> control relationship and some interesting things could be said about how
> this changes the relationship between petty bourg and prols with owners- but
> it is also a very nice materialist understanding of neoliberalism
> (contra Harvey's rather idealist one). You simply cannot dismiss
> derivatives due to the recent financial problems which are nothing more than
> scams on the periphery of a much larger issue. Derivative markets are so
> large and play such a massive role in how capitalism operates today that
> there really is no way of getting rid of them, unless we rid ourselves of
> the whole system. To see them as stupid or as merely gambling is to miss
> their importance because of an unwillingness to see the shifts in capitalism
> before ones eyes. While it might be fun to see the class that rules as
> stupid, it does nothing to aid in the transcendence of that rule.
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Sounds interesting, as is your gloss on it. I've requested it through our local library.
Meanwhile, could you expand a bit on your statements that "this changes the relationship between petty bourg and prols with owners" and "is also a very nice materialist understanding of neoliberalism (contra Harvey's rather idealist one)."
How so?