Rhetorical Financial Engineering: Challenging an Hermeneutic Framework for Organizational Behavior

This project investigation how financial language is used to create worlds of meaning, serving a purpose dictating human behavior. I offer in this project an exploration-of-concept of a rhetorical method as an intervention into the discipline of behavioral finance and economics. The rhetoric of economics invites an examination of ethos , both as dwelling place and habitat which enables the observer to see how the discourse functions. This project then will examine the key moments in recent financial history which create openings for an examination of how language creates these worlds of meaning. Specifically, I will examine two recent discourses related to the US financial markets: the rhetoric surrounding the role of talking heads in the financial industry and the discourses surrounding speculation and its role in the long-term viability of the economy. For each of these case studies, I will determine one key moment that I believe is emblematic of the overall controversy. I will conclude by synthesizing the above case studies and lead a broader theorization of how one could run future case studies in utilizing rhetorical methodology as an empirical intervention (engineering) in the behavioral economics discipline.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Min, Richard

• behavioral finance

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/90753

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/90753