Activist Retail Investors and the Future of Financial Markets

by Usman W. Chohan (Editor), Sven Van Kerckhoven (Editor)

Contemporary financial markets have been characterized by sociocultural phenomena such as "meme stocks", the Gamestop short squeeze, and "You Only Live Once (YOLO) trading". These are movements led by small-scale retail investors banding together to participate forcefully in financial markets through decentralized but coordinated actions. This book deploys many different subdisciplines to explore the recent ‘power grabbing’ of retail investors and the online environment that enables them to join the ranks of major financial players, and participate in contemporary capitalism. It offers multiple perspectives on the genesis, role, motivations, power, and future prospects of retail investors as a force in contemporary financial markets. Drawing upon the insights of authors hailing from many different countries, the book frames YOLO capitalism through numerous angles that help to explain the context and the importance of activist retail investors in modern financial markets, and thereby explore the possibilities of a transformed financial future with much wider small-scale participation. The book assesses the potential of online - and other - communities in enabling global coordination in impacting or even driving financial and crypto markets, and the challenges that come with it and weighs the competing narratives both positive and negative regarding YOLO capitalism. It strikes a balanced assessment of their legal, cultural, behavioural, economic, and political roles in modern finance. This book will be of interest to a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary audience of scholars in financial markets, financial regulation, political economy, public administration, macroeconomics, corporate governance, and the philosophy and the sociology of finance.

230 pages, Hardcover

Published April 17, 2023

About the author

who is now a Research Fellow (BPS 20) at the Institute of Regional Studies, heading the Economic Development of South Asia program. Previously, he was Advisor and one of the founding Directors of CASS, leading the team on Economic Affairs & National Development. He is among the Top 100 Authors across all subjects & disciplines (out of 2.5 million authors) on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), which is the largest open repository of knowledge in the world. He has authored & edited ten books in the past eight years, all published with Routledge (see below). In the academic realm, his research has been cited widely, and Dr. Chohan has testified before various authorities based on his technical expertise. He has been published in prestigious journals such as Policy & Society, The International Journal of Public Administration, and Parliamentary Affairs.

Dr. Chohan has a PhD in economics from UNSW Australia, where his doctoral work led to the world's first multidisciplinary synthesis of independent legislative fiscal institutions, and an MBA from McGill University (Canada), with coursework at MIT-Tsinghua. He has also been a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum from the Canberra hub.

His previous practitioner experience includes working at the National Bank of Canada and the World Bank. Dr. Chohan has been a speaker at major national conferences such as GSTAR and the Margalla Dialogue, and has taught courses on the digital economy at the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG) with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB, Belgium).

He is also the President of the International Association of Hyperpolyglots (HYPIA), the leading organization worldwide for hyperpolyglotism and whose membership consists of the speakers of six or more languages.

Dr. Usman appears frequently on domestic and international television, podcasts, and lecture series in various languages. He leads and hosts The Economic Angle podcast series. He is also trained in South Asian musicology and plays the sitar, with his second repertoire album released in 2025. In addition, Dr. Chohan has maintained an annual reading challenge of 100 books every year since 2011.

Reviews

[Bakhtawar Iftikhar]

Came across this at the book launch. With insights about emerging trends in the market, authors from across the globe explore YOLO Capitalism from an array of perspectives. Set against the backdrop of a generation that grew up feeling powerless amid the 2008 financial crisis, it explores the community of young activists, now coordinating online to make big impacts. Standing up to the big guys in Institutional finance, sometimes merely for the thrill of it and making money in the process. It also shows how vulnerable financial markets are to public sentiment.

The psychological, sociological, and economic takes on the subject matter, in particular, make it a riveting read. For example, how the gamification of finance impacts children. Definitely appears to be a great compilation of a broad range of insights about the financial world.

[Zahra Niazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is definitely worth reading and covers a very unique perspective. Recommended, especially to all those with an investor mindset.