Ben Waber reviewed Liquidated by Karen Ho
A Great Ethnography with Mediocre Macro Context
4 stars
This book shines in its ethnographic sections, detailing the ineffective and perverse work and management culture that dominated financial firms from the 1980s to the dawn of the financial crisis. The lack of reflection about how to measure performance and multiple levels is unsurprising by striking, as is the acceptance of job precarity in this admittedly extremely well compensated sector. Ho also puts forward the compelling hypothesis that many of the poor, short term management practices that have proliferated across large companies are in large part a reflection of finance's practices. I would've liked more quantitative backing for the sweeping historical statements made throughout the book and to validate the case studies that are discussed here. As a partially insider qualitative dive into finance culture, however, this is a thought-provoking work. Highly recommend
This book shines in its ethnographic sections, detailing the ineffective and perverse work and management culture that dominated financial firms from the 1980s to the dawn of the financial crisis. The lack of reflection about how to measure performance and multiple levels is unsurprising by striking, as is the acceptance of job precarity in this admittedly extremely well compensated sector. Ho also puts forward the compelling hypothesis that many of the poor, short term management practices that have proliferated across large companies are in large part a reflection of finance's practices. I would've liked more quantitative backing for the sweeping historical statements made throughout the book and to validate the case studies that are discussed here. As a partially insider qualitative dive into finance culture, however, this is a thought-provoking work. Highly recommend