{"product_id":"confidence-games-money-and-markets-in-a-world-without-redemption-religion-and-postmodernism-9780226791685","title":"Confidence Games: Money and Markets in a World without Redemption (Religion and Postmodernism)","description":"\u003cp\u003eAwash in a sea of data that seems to have no meaning and bombarded by images and sounds transmitted from around the globe 24\/7  people are no longer sure what is real and what is fake. Artists recycle ads in their paintings and businesses use images of artists in their ads; politicians mount campaigns based on hit films; and bankers make billions trading incomprehensible financial products backed by nothing more than abstract figures and signs.  In Confidence Games  Mark C. Taylor considers the implications of these developments for our digital and increasingly virtual economy. According to Taylor  money and markets do not exist in a vacuum but grow in a profoundly cultural medium  reflecting and in turn shaping their world. To understand the recent changes in our economy  it is not enough to analyze the impact of politics and technologyone must consider the influence of art  philosophy  and religion as well.  Bringing John Calvin  G. W. F. Hegel  and Adam Smith to Wall Street by way of Las Vegas  Taylor first explores the historical and psychological origins of money  the importance of religious beliefs and practices for the emergence of markets  and the unexpected role of religion and art in the classical understanding of economics. He then moves to an account of economic developments during the past four decades  exploring the dawn of our new information age  the growing virtuality of money and markets  and the complexity of the networks by which monetary value is now negotiated.  Returning full circle to a version of the market first proposed by Adam Smith when he used theology and aesthetics to rethink economics  Confidence Games closes with a plea for a conception of life that embraces uncertainty and insecurity as signs of the openness of the future. Like religion and economics  life is a confidence game in which the challenge is not to find redemption but to learn to live without it.  \"Before the global credit system began its collapse in 2007  Mark Taylor had connected the dots between increasingly complex financial instruments and larger cultural forces. Anyone who wants to understand the disappearing foundation of our financial markets needs to read this book immediately.\"Michael Lewitt  editor  The HCM Market Letter Beyond simply dealing with money and markets  Confidence Games is a fascinating and wide-ranging tour of modern and postmodern ideas and conditions from Aristotle to Nietzsche  from Wall Street to Las Vegas.Craig Bay  Journal of Markets \u0026amp; Morality\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647073837109,"sku":"ByrdShop_0226791688","price":27.68,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780226791685.jpg?v=1781687713","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/confidence-games-money-and-markets-in-a-world-without-redemption-religion-and-postmodernism-9780226791685","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}