The finance culture took root in the upper-middle class.

Evidence

The opposite might have been taking place. Given that income inequality rose most at the very top, one can theorize that pressures on people’s lifestyles were most acutely felt first by those in the upper middle class (80–98% in the SES distribution) and to a lesser extent by the middle classes (40–80% of the SES distribution). These were the households who most struggled to keep up with the rising price of positional goods like housing and schools, particularly in high priced urban areas. These households had more financial resources to begin with and they were able to take advantage of the expansion of new financial opportunities. But in order to do so, they needed to change their attitudes towards risk and debt. They needed to take active control over their income and wealth and deploy their resources more aggressively. These households saw the rising stock market in the 1990s and the rising housing market in the 2000s as exploitable opportunities. As a result, we expect that it is the upper-middle part of the SES distribution was where the finance culture took root most widely. — Neil Fligstein & Adam Goldstein, The Emergence of a Finance Culture in…, 65

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Jean Fourastié / positional goods scholarship and the general literature on status competition through housing consumption. — connects to: Financial risk-taking emerges in middle classes as a response to top-end inequality. — Neil Fligstein & Adam Goldstein, The Emergence of a Finance Culture in…, 3; Financialized risk-taking is concentrated in the upper middle class, not spread across all earners — Neil Fligstein & Adam Goldstein, The Emergence of a Finance Culture in…, 143; Financial practice expresses class and acts as a control mechanism — Natascha van der Zwan, Making Sense of Financialization, 20 (+5 more)
• ADDENDUM: Directly relevant to ‘Grafting & Growth’ only loosely, but strongly relevant to financialization themes about converting houses into financial leverage — could pair with that article’s infrastructure framing.

Related

• Financial risk-taking emerges in middle classes as a response to top-end inequality. (similarity 0.92)
• Financialized risk-taking is concentrated in the upper middle class, not spread across all earners (similarity 0.91)
• Financialization of households is stratified by class, not uniform (similarity 0.91)
• Upper-middle households increasingly treated homes as leverage assets. (similarity 0.90)
• Upper-middle-class risk-taking is a defensive response to falling behind the top 2% (similarity 0.87)
• Acceptance of debt and risk differs sharply by socioeconomic class (similarity 0.86)
• Top-end wealth concentration intensifies pressure on lower households to maintain relative lifestyles. (similarity 0.83)
• Financial markets reshaped households, corporations, and states over the past 30 years. (similarity 0.82)
• Finance culture is a cultural frame, not an exogenous shift imposed on households. (similarity 0.82)
• Neil Fligstein & Adam Goldstein — The Emergence of a Finance Culture in American Households, 1989-2007 (similarity 0.81)
• Households signal financialization through risk-taking, relaxed debt attitudes, and speculative strategies (similarity 0.81)
• Households are pushed into financial markets that promise lifestyle advancement. (similarity 0.79)
• Housing asset ownership now structures class and inequality more than occupation does. (similarity 0.79)
• Household financialization involves adopting new entrepreneurial mindsets, not just buying more financial products. (similarity 0.79)
• Financial practice expresses class and acts as a control mechanism (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Financialized risk-taking is concentrated in the upper middle class, not spread across all earners #expands (0.88) — Neil Fligstein & Adam Goldstein, The Emergence of a Finance Culture in…, 143
• Financier culture forms inside a homosocial world of risk norms and chronic overwork. #expands (0.82) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 87
• Financial practice expresses class and acts as a control mechanism #expands (0.80) — Natascha van der Zwan, Making Sense of Financialization, 20
• Upper-middle households increasingly treated homes as leverage assets. #exemplifies (0.80) — Neil Fligstein & Adam Goldstein, The Emergence of a Finance Culture in…, 66
• Upper-middle-class risk-taking is a defensive response to falling behind the top 2% #qualifies (0.75) — Neil Fligstein & Adam Goldstein, The Emergence of a Finance Culture in…, 145