ABSTRACT
Alain Badiou's point is that the realisation of the utopian symbolic order represents a form of excessive signification or, in this case, numerical accumulation that always reveals a deeper, ontological state of lack. Ole Bjerg explains that fractional reserve banking, based in confidence in the bank's ability to pay its depositors on request. In the contemporary financial utopia, Bjerg makes the point that the immediate accessibility of cash from ATMs sustains the fantasy that the bank holds reserves equal to total deposits. In instances where financial assets, such as mortgages, can be used to issue more finance, the virtual circle of financialisation is complete and value creation seems limitless. Benoit Mandelbrot's point is that probability theory is ineffective in a highly complex system because there are too many variables and too many interactions to be able to base prediction about the future in an assessment of the past.
