Something for Nothing: Arbitrage and Ethics on Wall Street (e-book) (used book) | bookbook.eu

Description

In 2001, Goldman Sachs structured a financial contract so that its client, the Greek government, would appear to have less debt than it actually did. When the Eurozone crisis erupted years later, the inevitable question arose: even if Goldman’s actions were technically legal, were they ethically wrong? In Something for Nothing, Maureen O’Hara examines the murky moral universe of modern finance and its foundational technique: arbitrage. Deployed correctly, arbitrage creates value and generates benefits for all, but it can also exploit and confound well-meaning financial safeguards. Examining key cases including the Lehman Brothers’ collapse and energy market manipulation in California, O’Hara reveals the ways arbitrage—disconnected from any value system—can transgress ethical lines.


In its critical assessment of the mechanics of markets today and its call for more transparent and sound financial practices, Something for Nothing powerfully engages with the moral decision making inherent in our financial system.