Le jeu D'ARGENT ET LA SPÉCULATION: QUELQUES ENSEIGNEMENTS À TIRER DE L'OEUVRE DE BALZAC DANS LE CADRE D'UNE ANTHROPOLOGIE DES MARCHÉS FINANCIERS

Thierry Suchère ()
Additional contact information
Thierry Suchère: EDEHN - Equipe d'Economie Le Havre Normandie - ULH - Université Le Havre Normandie - NU - Normandie Université

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Public opinion wrongly thinks of the Stock Exchange as something difficult to decipher. It seems to be reserved for specialists in economics who insist on the rationality of the actors (optimizing, mimetic or self-referential rationality ...) and on the assumption of a market efficiency: its capacity to ensure an optimal allocation of capital. In the nineteenth century, there existed a "stock market novel" where the Stock Exchange is described as a shambles (synonymous of disorder, mess…). For individuals, it's passion that speaks whenever it comes to money. In two texts, Honoré de Balzac illustrates the on-going transformation of the structure of the dominant classes under the effect of money circulation. Capital markets are seen as black holes in which outsiders develop strategies on the edge of legality in order to make a fortune. It tells stories of unjust enrichment intended to trick gullible small savers. In a society that sees its traditional social values declining, the state finds it hard to say what public morality should be. Should we let the invisible hand act with the idea of attracting capital to finance public debts? Should we regulate to avoid fraudulent behavior at the origin of stock market crashes? Should we close the stock exchange and thus outlaw speculation on the ground that this is only a sort of gambling?

Date: 2017
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02411345
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Éthique et économique/Ethics and economics, 2017

Downloads: (external link)
https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02411345/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02411345

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().