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Science and Public Policy, 2017, Vol. 44, No.

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Chapter 3. It would perhaps benefit from some reorganiza- doi:10.1093/scipol/scx028


tion, and introducing Michelson’s conceptual framework Advance Access Publication Date: 3 June 2017
up front, rather than halfway through. However, despite
this, a number of sections, such as the history of anticipa- References
tory governance (Chapter 3), description of boundary Barben, D. et al. (2008) ‘Anticipatory Governance of
work (Chapter 5), and discussions of the PUS and PES Nanotechnology: Foresight, Engagement, and Integration’. In:
models (Chapter 6) serve as excellent overviews of the re- Edward J. Hackett et al. (eds) The Handbook of Science and
spective topics, and would not only serve as a helpful re- Technology Studies, 3rd edn. p. 979. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Conley, S. N. (2013) ‘Anticipatory Governance in Practice?
source for scholars, but could also serve as accessible
Nanotechnology Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts’. In: Sean A.
readings for upper level undergraduate and graduate Hays et al. (eds) Nanotechnology, the Brain, and the Future:
Science and Technology Studies (STS) and policy courses. Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society, Vol. 3. pp. 373–92.
New York: Springer.
Shannon N. Conley Guston, D. H., and Sarewitz, D. (2002) ‘Real-Time Technology
Assistant Professor, Integrated Science and Technology, Assessment’, Technology in Society, 24/1: 93–109.

James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA;


Email: conleysn@jmu.edu

Portfolio Society: On the Capitalist Mode of Prediction


By Ivan Ascher. New York: MIT Press, 2016, 192 pp. (hardcover) ISBN 9781935408741. US list:
$25.95

As a college freshman, I recall asking an economics profes- (and hence everyone’s relation to the future) is itself medi-
sor how any single equilibrium price for complex assets in ated by financial markets’ (p. 24).
financial markets was reached between buyers and sell- He argues that the ‘economic cell form’ of our own
ers—to which I received a generic ‘demand meets supply’ portfolio society is no longer the ‘commodity-form of the
answer and was left to my devices to figure out how this product of labour, as in Marx’s formulation, but the secur-
was executed in practice. Although I have since visited a ity form of capital itself’ (p. 15).
trading desk and saw the closing of such transactions first- The author then proceeds, in Chapter Two, to describe
hand (and learned about the models underlying them), I the hedging value of financial securities (‘financial secur-
now wish Ivan Ascher’s account of the intricacies of con- ities seem to be considered less and less for their specific
temporary financial markets—and their implications for usefulness (. . .) and more and more for their value in ex-
the common man—had been available to me then. In this change (. . .) in the construction of a properly diversified
short and highly readable publication, the author covers portfolio’ (p. 36)), and then, in Chapter Three, the paradox
original ground, namely his critique of the rise of financial that allows lenders to ‘borrow more, the more they lend’.
markets that have largely securitized key relationships be- In the Chapter Four, Ascher provides his answers to the
tween capital holders—a step further from the well- many questions raised throughout his work, suggesting
described securitization of assets in the market economy. that the substantive shift in how financial markets operate
Inspired by Marx’s critique of political economy of his and the uncertainty this has generated for the broader pub-
time, Ivan Ascher’s narrative opens by recounting the perils lic have accelerated the need by economic agents to seek
caused by an accumulation of subprime loans in the USA protection from volatility—all the while exposing them-
before 2007, leading to the largest financial crisis of mod- selves to new forms of risk (paraphrased from p. 29).
ern history. The author is blunt in calling out the ‘extraor- The essay successfully addresses the practical implica-
dinary – and terrifying – power of financial institutions’ (p. tions of this outcome by asking ‘how is it possible for the
20)1—and makes a case for stating that our society should incessant trade of financial securities to generate increasing
not simply be thought of as a ‘civil society (. . .) mediated economic security for the financier while creating ever
by monetized exchange, but as a historically unique port- greater vulnerability for the rest of us?’ (p. 29). He suggests
folio society in which capital’s relation to its own future that the reliance on credit scores—all too often a self-

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880 Science and Public Policy, 2017, Vol. 44, No. 6

fulfilling prophecy that puts disadvantaged borrowers at Ivan Ascher’s essay presents a carefully calibrated account
greater risk still—is a byproduct of the securitization of re- of how financial markets affect modern societies that will
lationships between capital holders. please inquisitive college freshmen, political theorists and
While not the primary objective of his essay, Ascher policy-makers alike.
contributes to the scholarship on economic inequality in Among the few weaknesses of the work is an occasional
the modern society by emphasizing the vulnerability of back-and-forth between ideas and stories, as illustrated in
debtors. He makes his argument especially clear by stating: the book’s last chapter that covers a lawsuit concerning the
Financial markets are clearly structured along a class role of Goldman Sachs in the issuance of a synthetic collat-
division, (. . .) even if the terms of this division may eralized debt obligation for John Paulson, a billionaire
sometimes be unclear: It is not a division that separates investor who made a successful bet on a housing market
“borrowers” from “creditors” (. . .). It is, rather, a div- crash in late 2000s. Given that this elaborate scheme was
ision (. . .) between those whose lives keep placing them first described much earlier, this section would have been
at risk and having thus to seek protection (say in the better positioned closer to the book’s opening. And while
form of a loan or an insurance policy) and those whose Ivan Ascher does not make suggestions for optimal policy
position of relatively security (. . .) gives them the oppor- or societal responses to the securitization of relationships
tunity to take risks – say – by lending to others or bet- in the economy, one can hope that his future work will ad-
ting on their probability of default. (pp. 123–124) dress this billion-dollar question.
Ascher’s book grapples with complexities of modern so- For a serious and critical thinker, Portfolio Society
ciety’s dependence on financial markets in a very ap- offers delicious food for thought while holding promise for
proachable way, blending literary and real-world examples the author’s potential to make more contributions to the
(from Marx’s Moneybags and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe to field in the future.
Fabrice Tourre, one of the few bankers convicted in the
aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis), and uses ac- Jakub P. Hlávka
cessible and rich language with occasional humor, making Pardee RAND Graduate School and the RAND
it an enjoyable read. In the style of an essay offering a cri- Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA
tique of contemporary financial markets, Ascher’s take is a 90407, USA; E-mail: jhlavka@rand.org
compelling account of the realities faced by communities doi:10.1093/scipol/scx029
dependent on the functioning of modern financial markets, Advance Access Publication Date: 28 June 2017
while adding to political economy scholarship. In short,

Why Are We Waiting?: The Logic, Urgency, and Promise of Tackling


Climate Change
By Nicolas Stern, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2015, 448 pages, $19.95 (Paperback),
ISBN 9780262529983

Why Are We Waiting? is the most recent book from Lord the precipice of two remarkable coinciding periods: a period
Nicholas Stern in his long career of scholarship regarding of major structural transformations in the coming few dec-
the economics of climate change, including the highly influ- ades due to accelerating economic growth and urbanization
ential Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in on one hand; and the closing window during which we have
2006 and A Blueprint for a Safer Planet in 2009. Stern’s lat- a chance of limiting climate change to 2  C on the other
est work is a summary and review of his point of view on hand. The book returns frequently to this dual set of chal-
climate change economics, updated to reflect the state of lenges and opportunities, stressing that growth and climate
things in 2015. The book was released in 2015, a few mitigation are complementary goals. For example:
months before the 21st Conference of Parties of the United An attempt at high-carbon growth is likely to self-destruct
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in as a result of the hostile environment it will create. (p. 35)
Paris (COP 21). As such, it is written with a tone that is In Chapter 1 of the book, Stern lays out a clear picture of
both urgent and hopeful. Stern argues that society stands on the risk to human life associated with high temperatures and

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