Warwick Critical Finance

Nathaniel Tkacz observed an inversion of the relationship between Political Economy and Media Studies whereby critical issues are gradually migrating from Political Economy terrain - labour conditions, ownership structures, etc. - to Media Studies and recent problematics of a technological mediation of economies. Tkacz illustrated, for instance, how the design of retail monetary applications is inspired by a behavioral economics model that does not expect rational-calculating economic subjects anymore. Rather consumers are approached as irrational subjects, whose preferences need to be constantly mapped through processes of perpetual data feedback. The business of finance is seen to be, at least partly, the design and creation of ‘user experiences’. What do we make of such trends? A critical approach, Tkacz suggests, needs to raise awareness of such relatively new dynamics entering the industry, and build an understanding of what they do. What kind of experiences are designed and to what financial purposes?