Registration required. Open to the public. Book signing to follow.

The recent bank failures of 2023 have been a rude awakening for everyone who believed that the banking industry was reformed after the Global Financial Crisis—and that we’d never again have to choose between massive bailouts and financial havoc. The Bankers’ New Clothes uncovers just how little things have changed—and why banks are still so dangerous. Writing in clear language that anyone can understand, Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig debunk the false and misleading claims of bankers, regulators, politicians, academics, and others who oppose effective reform, and they explain how the banking system can be made safer and healthier. Thoroughly updated for a world where bank failures have made a dramatic return, this acclaimed and important book now features a new preface and four new chapters that expose the shortcomings of current policies and reveal how the dominance of banking even presents dangers to the rule of law and democracy itself.

Anat R. Admati is the George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and a senior fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Her disciplinary interests lie in the interaction of business, law, and policy, specifically governance and accountability mechanisms in the private sector and government. Admati is also the Faculty Director of the Corporations and Society Initiative at the GSB, whose mission is to raise awareness and increase understanding of the complex interactions among people, corporations, and governments. Since 2010, Admati has been engaged in policy debates around the globe related to financial regulations and corporate accountability. Her insights have been featured in media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, CNN, and PBS. In 2014, Admati was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Foreign Policy Magazine as among the 100 global thinkers. Admati has written academic papers on information dissemination in financial markets, portfolio management, financial contracting, corporate governance, and banking. 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, 2023). Admati holds a B.Sc. from the Hebrew University, an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich. She is a fellow of the Econometric Society, the recipient of multiple fellowships, research grants, and paper recognition, and is a past board member of the American Finance Association. She has served on many editorial boards and is a former member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee, the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee, and a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund. Sponsors Julis Romo Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance Bendheim Center for Finance