Financial Infrastructure and Market Stability: Building Futures Markets in Chicago and New Orleans, 1865-1921

• In Event: 571 - Section on Economic Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Social Studies of Finance

Abstract

In this paper I propose a new empirical object for sociological study, the interface between financial markets and the product markets that underlie them. While scholars have done much to elucidate the social dynamics at work within both product and financial markets, these borders remain generally unexplored from a sociological perspective. As such, there is little awareness of the multiple components that compose this border, nor the impact of these components on the markets themselves. This paper compares the material and ideal linkages established between product and financial markets in two historical cases: the creation of futures markets on the Chicago Board of Trade and New Orleans Cotton Exchange. I argue that accurate and meaningful connections between markets contributed to the stability of the New Orleans futures market, while unreliable and misleading linkages made Chicago’s futures market vulnerable to manipulation.

Author

• David L. Pinzur, University of California-San Diego