1. How does Wall Street dominate the United States? “The more the world bought into Wall Street, the more leverage it has to hold the globe hostage” ---p. 323

2. Forms of Power: Which are used by Wall Street? Violence and the threat of violence Structural violence The power to name or represent Worldview (cultural hegemony) The body (habitus) The production of persons

3. Cultural Hegemony: Dominance by Consent The cultural worldview of the dominant group is accepted by other non-dominant groups, even though that worldview does not always fit their daily experience. That worldview legitimates the power and position of the dominant group, thus keeping them in a position of dominance Thus, the dominance is by consent: p. 296 Easier or harder than dominance through violence? Worldview is out of sync with reality but resistant to reality, p. 157, p. 159 (conversation with Joseph Tsai) Questions by Lucy Lescota and Nadean Hall

4. History of Corporations Three characteristics of corporations: Legal identity separate from the legal identity of the persons who own them; they are legally persons (Citizens United 2010) Ownership is in stock that may be held by multiple people which may be sold in the market (stock market) Liabilities of corporations are not liabilities of owners, who can only lose the capital they invested Initial conception: based on monasteries which had property and rights to govern their members Not a small business owned by an entrepreneur: p. 172, 173 A corporation is a cultural institutions: shared and learned ways of thinking about these institutions

5. History of Stocks and Corporations Dutch East India Company (1602-1800): first company to issue stock to fund Dutch control of the spice trade; given a 21-year monopoly on the trade by Dutch government Stock is a share in a corporation which can be purchased by an individual or group of individuals (to raise capital for the business). The share invested guarantees a share of the profits or losses. Previously, ship voyages had been invested in on a voyage-by- voyage basis (including slave ships to West Africa). Stock market in England and Netherlands defined by bubbles and busts: tulip bubble; Debt, p. 348

9. Who buys shares? Pension funds, insurance companies, governments (foreign and US), endowments, non-profits Individuals, mainly through mutual funds or private retirement account Note: in for the long term

10. Share: An Imagined Value The value of the share is meant to correspond to the value of the business and its potential profitability How do you determine the value of the business? Of its assets (building, equipment, skills of its employees)? How do you determine the value or worth of a house? Question by Kelsey Collier What are the problems of this approach? What other kinds of value might there be for a business? What do investment bankers to raise the share price?

11. How Wall Street sees itself as superior to corporate America Downsizes and builds up easily: No infrastructure No technology Major asset is labor, and that can be downsized in 30-45 minutes No long-term plan or strategy Wages are low in comparison to bonuses (so major cost linked to profits); very similar to share-cropping (no risk to owner)

12. Wall Street as a Political Force Headlines based on a Google search “Wall Street responds elections” “Wall Street’s latest panic: Trump could win” “Markets React Cautiously to Canadian Election Results” “Wall Street Responds Favorably to Republican Victories” (last midterm elections) “Why Wall Street Tycoons are Panicking about the 2016 elections” Economy trumps politics? Similar to rain-making for east and southern African kings? But in the case of Wall Street, whose economic wellbeing?

14. Wall Street also a beneficiary of government largesse (redistribution) Investment banks are “too big to fail”: seen as so central to the economy, that their failure will result in economic failures or shocks Therefore, government “bails” them out: e.g., 2008 mortgage-fueled crisis, a loan of $1.2 trillion Therefore, taxpayers subsidize the risks of Wall Street decisions Questions about today: Isabelle Kaminer, George Michael Sandoval, Olivia Crenny

17. What does hegemony mean under these circumstances? Whose consent is required?

18. Fooling themselves also “The market” as an external, abstract force driving their own downsizing, p. 214 They believe their own spin, p. 292 Does Karen Ho also fall prey to the spin? Lucy Lescota’s critique.