Donald MacKenzie on financial algorithms and other matters January 21, 2013

As even toddlers know by now, the NYSE is in the process of being acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange. The merger has been celebrated in the press as a sign of changing technology in trading (though the crucial role of the SEC in bringing about the algorithmic revolution to equities trading is almost always neglected by journalists).

The merger also takes place more or less at the same time as two new articles by Donald MacKenzie (one of them coauthored with Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra) have been made public. The paper on Island is particularly relevant, as it provides an analysis of the type of “insurgent capitalism” that has perhaps elevated ICE:

Click to access Island34.pdf

Click to access Merc11.pdf

More broadly, for an interesting interview of Donald MacKenzie (in English, but with a short written intro in Spanish) see the following link at “Estudios de la Economia,” a somewhat unclassifiable STS/ sociology blog led by Chilean academics Jose Ossandon:

http://estudiosdelaeconomia.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/the-risk-in-the-financial-system-can-often-develop-in-areas-that-people-think-of-dull-technical-and-boring-an-interview-with-donald-mackenzie/