Financial Power, Public Trust, and Democratic Erosion

Financial institutions play a central yet under-examined role in the decline of democratic governance and accountability. Drawing on insights from political economy and recent global developments, Anat Admati will trace how distorted incentives and weak oversight mechanisms have allowed key players in finance to undermine the rule of law, fuel public disillusionment, and deepen governance failures. She will also discuss how scholars and practitioners can push back against these forces.

Speaker Bio

Anat R. Admati's current research, teaching and advocacy focus on the complex interactions between business, law, and policy, with a focus on governance and accountability. She is the co-author, with Martin Hellwig, of the award-winning and highly acclaimed book The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It (Princeton University Press, 2013, expanded edition 2024). In 2014. She was included in Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world and in Foreign Policy Magazine as one of 100 global thinkers.

She is the George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. At Stanford she is also a Faculty Director of the Corporations and Society Initiative (CASI) and for the Program on Capitalism and Democracy (CAD) at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). She is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)'s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee.

Admati holds a bachelor's degree from the Hebrew University, a PhD from Yale University, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich.