Activist Retail Investors and the Future of Financial Markets: Understanding YOLO Capitalism

Cover
Half Title
Series
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
About the Editors
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
List of Tables
List of Figures
Appendices
Acronyms
Timeline
1 Introduction
	Background
	Overview of This Book
	Concluding Remarks
Part 1 Retail Investors as Drivers, Creators, and Mediators of Value
	2 Public Value Theory and YOLO Capitalism
		Introduction
		Civil Society as Driver of Value
		Measuring and Ascribing Public Value
		GameStop Short Squeeze and the Reddit Rebellion
			Embodiment of Values
			(Re)measurement and (Re)appropriation of Value
		Public Managerial and Political Responses
		Strategic Triangle
		Conclusion
	3 Happier than Ever: The Role of Public Sentiment in Cryptocurrencies, Meme Stocks, and NFTs
		2021: Year of the NFT?
		Affect and Populism in Political Theory
		A Pandemia of Fear and Greed: Sentiment, Mood, and Interest in Finance
		Planet of the Apes: NFTs and the Celebrity Culture
		Conclusion
		Acknowledgments
	4 GameStop, WallStreetBets, and Capital as Power
		Introduction
		Setting the Stage for the Surge
		The Gathering Storm
		Capital as (Social) Power
		Conclusion
	5 Speculative Behavior and Expectations in Economic Turmoil: A Keynesian View
		Introduction
		Decline in Investors’ Relative Knowledge
		Animal Spirits
		The Tyranny of Experts
		Conclusion
	6 Memes as Cultural Artifacts: YOLO Investors, Degeneracy, and the Memeified Economy
		Introduction
		“I Am Not a Cat”: Behind the Scenes at r/WallStreetBets
		The Meaning of Memes
		Memes and Common Sense
		Memes Bridge Divides
		Conclusion
Part 2 Retail Investors as Activists, Renegades, and Disruptors
	7 Narrative Economics and YOLO Investors: r/WallStreetBets and the GameStop Short Squeeze
		Introduction
		The Arrival of the YOLO Investor
		Narrative Economics and Meme Stocks Going Viral
		Online Fora as Information Distributors
		Online Forums as a Disciplinary Tool
		Regulatory Reactions to Online Outlets
		Conclusion
	8 The Behavioral Biases of Cryptocurrency Retail Investors: Lessons from ICOs
		Introduction
		Heuristics and Biases
		Personality Traits
		Methodology
		Results
			Descriptive Results
			Personality Traits and Behavioral Biases of ICO Retail Investors
			Analysis of Investor Satisfaction for ICO Investments
		Discussion
		Impact on Other YOLO Investment Classes
		Conclusion
		Limitations and Future Research
		Acknowledgment
	9 FOMO in Digital Assets
		Introduction
			Fear of Missing Out in ICO Markets
				Empirical Estimator Specification
		Data and Methodology
			ICO Organization Retail Investor Survey Data
			Empirical Strategy
		Results
		Conclusion
	10 Is a Trader a Trader, No Matter How Small?
		Introduction
		One: Financial Education
		Two: Toying with Money
		Three: Policy Implications
		Four: Around the World
		Concluding Remarks
	11 Social Movements in Contemporary Political Economy: Lessons from YOLO Retail Investors
		Introduction
		The GameStop Experience: Social Movement Parallels
		Participation, Motivation, and Regulation: Broader Reflections from a Contemporary Political Economy Perspective
		Conclusion
	12 Retail Investors and Anti-system Politics Online
		Two Weeks in January
		Transformations in the Broader US Economy and Society
		Accelerating Social Inequality in the Pandemic
		The Sociology of Anti-system Politics
		Conclusion
	13 Counter-hegemonic Finance: The GameStop Short Squeeze
		Introduction
		One: On Gramscian Aspirations
		Two: The Shadow of 2008 and Occupy Wall Street
		Three: The Gramscian Lens for the GSS
		Conclusion: The Counter-hegemony of the Apes?
	14 Conclusion
		Conclusion: On YOLO Capitalism
		Key Lessons
			Activist Retail Investors Suffer from Many Biases
			Some Activist Retail Investors Are Bounded by an Ethical Calculus or Moral Directive
			YOLO Capitalism Is a Living Social Phenomenon
			Activist Retail Investors Are a Symbolic Society in Leisurely Pursuit
			Activist Retail Investors Remain Nestled within Capitalism’s Logic
		Limitations
		Future Areas of Research
		Final Words
Index