Watching the market

Urs Stäheli

Chapter 8 in The Illusion of Management Control, 2012, pp 204-222 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Financial speculation always refers to the visual. In 1754, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary defined the practice of speculation as ‘examination by the eye’. Etymologically, speculation derives from the Latin verb speculare, which refers not to an economic practice, but more generally to looking out for something which is not already there. Speculation in the sense of financial speculation was first mentioned at the end of the eighteenth century. The semantics of financial speculation remains closely tied to the visual, as in Walpole’s comparison of the folly of speculation with that of pictures (OED). Additionally, its semantics are now morally coded, often as evil, and, at the same time, it is linked to the figure of the adventurer.

Keywords: Stock Market; Financial Market; Stock Exchange; Financial Economy; Social Sphere (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-36539-1_9

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230365391_9

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