Anthropology, Economics, Reviews, Sociology

Review: Zaloom, Out of The Pits

jacket imageIn a recent review for Time Out Chicago Ruth Welte writes that Caitlin Zaloom’s Out of the Pits: Traders and Technology from Chicago to London “is half fascinating cultural portrait and half in-depth academic text.… but what emerges from the mix is a nuanced, bottom up picture of Chicago’s economic importance in the world market, and how our city’s working class swagger has shaped derivatives trading from the inception of the market.”
But what is “working class swagger” really worth in the market of the new millennium where “floor traders are being phased out as online trading becomes the norm,” and “the need to be seen” is no longer relevant? According to Welte, Zaloom’s got the answer. Out of the Pits considers the implications of this sea change for everyone involved, from the traders and brokers on the floor of the former Chicago Board of Trade, to the market as a whole.
Documenting how Chicago is responding to the digital transition and how its traders are remaking themselves to compete in the contemporary marketplace, Out of the Pits is a must read for business buffs or anyone concerned about the future of the American marketplace.
Read an excerpt from the book.