bond traders and money

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Bond traders and Money, meanings and morality

Discuss some potential linkages that could be made between the wall street bond traders and the

ideas presented by Carruthers and Espeland in the reading "money, meanings and morality?

For a bond trader, money represents success, the need to acquire it is considered urgent. Statues are

achieved through money accumulation; money is only a mere means to an end. The trading floor rules

are crafted such that the question of morality is rendered irrelevant. Behaviors that are rewarded and

encouraged are ordinarily considered immoral in most other societies. What is important to traders is

how much and not how well. Apart from just money accumulation, the daily dealings of a typical bond

trader have no sense of purpose, no direction. Traders care very less about the origin and destination of

the money they trade. In the trading floor, life is ajungle anything goes life is the survival of the

fittest.

Money, meanings and morality: ties to embeddedness

In the reading entitled "Money, meanings and morality, we see the importance of time and

space. Discuss some possible connections that can be made between this reading and

Grannovetter's on embeddedness.

The meaning of money and morality will most likely vary between Wall Street and Dominican Nun

Monastery. While the nuns will carefully consider the root and purpose of every single dime accepted or

earned, an investment banker is more or less focused on profit. Though one may argue that not all nuns

necessarily uphold high moral values, it is easy to notice that the behavior of most nuns is strictly

confined by the dictates of the monastery, even for the morally depraved ones. The opposite of this

argument is true for investment bankers. Therefore, the behavior of people is refined by the institution

or society in which they are embedded. The meaning, dynamics and moral implications of money, like

most other aspect of our lives are influenced by, not only our individual behavior, but also the institution

in which we are embedded.

Most cultures around the world belief that, life is barren without money and the trappings of life are

stripped from one without money. Nevertheless, most cultures also recognize that money is not

everything. The meaning of money and its value varies across society. In many a society, the value of

money is dependent on origin and purpose. In the hinter lands of Southern Nigeria, money is of value if

its route is known; a wealthy man is respected only if the source of his wealth is known. This norm does

not hinder Nigerians from an unbounded pursuit of money. Nigerian society blames this scourge of the

love of money to western acculturation. Living in the United States, it becomes apparent why the same

western culture (capitalism and pursuit of self-interest) that drives corruption in Nigeria encourages

honesty and integrity. Learning from experience, the western society developed institutions that are

effectively enforced to deter depravation. The embeddedness of individual behavior in effectively


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managed institutions, though allows for individual liberty in the pursuit of money, strictly discourages

venality and assures that only acceptable behaviors are rewarded in the long run. Societies like the

Southern Nigeria though recognizes the value of money and its moral implications, lacks effective

institutions for controlling and/or ensuring that the desired origin and purpose of money is achieved.

Money, meanings and morality: culture

In the reading entitled "Money, meanings and morality," the authors note that culture may

determine the sanctity of money in various forms. Do you believe that the wealth of a person

determines how picky they will be about rules for money? Why or why not? Provide some

examples.

Seven Deadly Sins

Wealth without work

Commerce without morality

-- Mahatma Gandhi

For a man like Gandhi, poverty is a virtue and life has no meaning if only the end justifies the means;

wealth without work is a deadly sin. But for a bond trader, a hedge fund manager, an entrepreneur,efficiency implies less work and return on investment is the fundamental motive of all business

transactions. Why would an amoral or immoral man not accumulate wealth given that he is unburdened

by moral restrictions? Unlike the poor, it is almost impossible for a wealthy man to control all the

activities of his holdings. For his peace of mind, the rich considers money to be fungible and separates

business from other life relationships. But for a working class man, human beings should never be

treated as numbers that can be manipulated for the sake of profit.

When we consider these situations, it is more likely true that our conscience is the driving force of how

much money we can accumulate.

Life is barren enough surely with all her trappings; let us therefore be cautious how we strip her.

-- Samuel Johnson

By its nature, the more wealth one acquires the less picky one is about the rules for money. Billionaires

hardly keep tracks of the intricate dealings their numerous investments engage in. In other words, one
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must be ready to downplay the value and meaning of money before engaging in the endless strife for

money. The fungibility of money is an intrinsic quality of a capitalist wealth: portfolios can be swapped,

fund managers interchanged and less attention paid to the ethos of the individuals involved so long as

targets are met and in some cases, no ethical requirements are violated . For a poor man, the source of

meager income is important. Otherwise, why would an average man be poor? If the source of wealth is

irrelevant, if all restrictions are expunged, most poor people with average intelligence will cease to be

deprived.

bond traders and money

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