Markets generate wealth through disposable metaphors, not coherent narratives

Evidence

On this level, the “narrative” qualities of finance as a means to understand and comprehend the world take on a disjointed, abstract and postmodern character that, at least at first blush, never resolves itself into some stable overarching pattern or plot (see Nilges 2014) (for a fascinating attempt to use literary and postmodern theory to analyze markets, see Ayache 2010). So, while finance might be a modality of social fiction which functions by telling a performative story about the world, it is a story that is, essentially, almost nonsense: a frenetic jumble of metaphors built on metaphors that never resolve into a coherent or linear narrative. Wealth is generated not by seeing the greater narrative in the market, but by spinning out new metaphors and abandoning them once they have done their work. The system is held together not by internal coherence, but by sheer momentum. … But, of course, for all that, the financial system continues to be among the most powerful institutions in the world. — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 136

Categorization

• XREF: Bridges directly to deWaard’s cultural argument about finance colonizing imagination — fragile, fragmentary, metaphor-driven rather than rational. — connects to: Financial asset prices reflect speculative circulation, not underlying real value — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 80; Financial asset prices oscillate among competing claims to meaning, like word meanings — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 80; Visual metaphors of market animals ultimately reinforce finance’s abstraction rather than explain it. (+4 more)
• DEFINE: Defines finance’s cultural-narrative modality: performative fiction that never resolves, held together by momentum.

Broader Connections

• Lyrical word choices function as convertible financial assets in a speculative marketplace #exemplifies (0.90) — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 320
• Visual metaphors of market animals ultimately reinforce finance’s abstraction rather than explain it. #exemplifies (0.88)
• Anthropomorphic market imagery reinforces rather than demystifies the market’s power #exemplifies (0.87) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 266
• Creativity’s vagueness makes it effective for financialization while hiding utopian potential #exemplifies (0.78) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 51