Securitization elevates speculation from support role to core profitability driver

Evidence

The general tendency within this paradigm is towards securitization, the process by which basic investments, assets and revenue streams can be cut apart and recombined to build new synthetic investment instruments which allow an almost surgical manipulation of risk (Martin 2007, 17–42). The key feature of securitization as a paradigm is that it moves speculation and risk management from a marginal, supportive role in global economic affairs to the forefront of profitability. In general, securitization refers to the way multiple forms of investment, or derivatives thereof, might be packaged together, woven into an inter-reliant vehicle for speculation. … Securitization effectively packages future probabilities as present-day commodities through the highly sophisticated manipulation of risk. — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 255

Categorization

• DEFINE: Provides the core working definition of securitization that grounds the whole financialization argument.
• XREF: Bridges directly to deWaard’s cultural argument: securitization as paradigm is the mechanism by which finance colonizes culture. Also echoes financialization of everyday life scholarship (Martin, Langley, Aitken). — connects to: Securitization converts uncertainty into quantifiable, tradeable risk and shapes daily life — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 248; Securitization names a mindset that abandons actual security for risk-juggling virtuosity — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 258; Securitization made bankers believe dispersion minimized risk — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 181 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Securitization made bankers believe dispersion minimized risk #expands (0.80) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 181
• Securitization logic replicates in cultural intertextuality, diverting power from authors to financialized systems #expands (0.75) — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 335
• Walmart’s power operates through securitization linking financial risk management to surveillance #expands (0.72) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 558