New Books Network Podcast

Economic and Business History February 5, 2023

No Return

Jews, Christian Usurers, and the Spread of Mass Expulsion in Medieval Europe

Rowan Dorin

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Beginning in the twelfth century, Jewish moneylenders increasingly found themselves in the crosshairs of European authorities, who denounced the evils of usury as they expelled Jews from their lands. Yet …

Higher Education February 2, 2023

Truth, Fiction, and Student Loan Forgiveness

A Conversation with Beth Akers

Beth Akers

Hosted by Annika Nordquist

With the Biden Administration's student loan relief coming down the pike, Annika sits down with Dr. Beth Akers, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who specializes in higher …

European Politics January 27, 2023

Central Banks and Supervisory Architecture in Europe

Lessons from Crises in the 21st Century

Robert Holzmann and Fernando Restoy

Hosted by Tim Jones

Since 2020, Europe's financial sector has been severely stress-tested by a global pandemic and a major land war yet, compared to the period between 2007 and 2012, the impact has …

Economics January 24, 2023

Power and Prediction

The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence

Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb

Hosted by Peter Lorentzen

Disruption resulting from the proliferation of AI is coming. The authors of the bestselling Prediction Machines describe what you can do to prepare. Banking and finance, pharmaceuticals, automotive, medical technology …

Finance January 23, 2023

The Intelligent Fund Investor

Practical Steps for Better Results in Active and Passive Funds

Joe Wiggins

Hosted by John Emrich

Investing in funds is not straightforward. We are faced with a countless range of options and constantly distracted by meaningless noise and turbulent markets. To make matters worse, our flawed …

Economics January 21, 2023

Risky Business

Why Insurance Markets Fail and What to Do About It

Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, and Ray Fisman

Hosted by John Emrich

Why is dental insurance so crummy? Why is pet insurance so expensive? Why does your auto insurer ask for your credit score? The answer to these questions lies in understanding …

Peoples & Things January 19, 2023

Automating Finance

A Discussion with Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra

Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra

Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Sociologist Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra, a professor at University of California San Diego, talks about his book Automating Finance: Infrastructures, Engineers, and the Making of Electronic Markets (Cambridge UP, 2019) with Peoples & …

Finance December 21, 2022

Illiquidity + Opacity = Insolvency

A Discussion with Gary Stern, Former President of the Minneapolis Fed

Gary Stern

Hosted by Robert Kowit

What's going on in private markets? As interest rates have gone up, public markets have been marked down much more severely than assets in the private market. Will the chickens …

Economic and Business History December 19, 2022

The Capital Order

How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism

Clara E. Mattei

Hosted by Javier Mejia

A groundbreaking examination of austerity’s dark intellectual origins. For more than a century, governments facing financial crisis have resorted to the economic policies of austerity—cuts to wages, fiscal spending, and …

Finance December 18, 2022

States and the Masters of Capital

Sovereign Lending, Old and New

Quentin Bruneau

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Today, states' ability to borrow private capital depends on stringent evaluations of their creditworthiness. While many presume that this has long been the case, Quentin Bruneau argues that it is …

Finance December 16, 2022

When McKinsey Comes to Town

The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm

Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe

Hosted by Daniel Peris

An explosive, deeply reported exposé of McKinsey & Company, When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm (Doubleday, 2022) by Walt Bogdanich and …

Jewish Studies December 14, 2022

A Banker's Journey

How Edmond J. Safra Built a Global Financial Empire

Daniel Gross

Hosted by Drora Arussy

Who was Edmond J. Safra? "The greatest banker of his generation," in the estimation of a former World Bank President. The founder of four massive financial institutions on three continents …

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones December 9, 2022

The Future of AI in Work

A Discussion with Daniel Susskind

Daniel Susskind

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones

What exactly can artificial intelligence do? It’s an issue some of the professions are grappling with – on the face of it, law is an area that rests on fine …

Economics December 8, 2022

The Federal Reserve

A New History

Robert L. Hetzel

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In The Federal Reserve: A New History (University of Chicago Press, 2022), Robert Hetzel draws on a 43-year career as an economist in the central bank to trace the influence of …

Education December 4, 2022

Indentured Students

How Government-Guaranteed Loans Left Generations Drowning in College Debt

Elizabeth Tandy Shermer

Hosted by Thomas Discenna

It didn't always take thirty years to pay off the cost of a bachelor's degree. In Indentured Students: How Government-Guaranteed Loans Left Generations Drowning in College Debt (Harvard UP, 2021), Elizabeth Tandy …

Economics November 30, 2022

The Economics of Platforms

Concepts and Strategy

Paul Belleflamme and Martin Peitz

Hosted by Peter Lorentzen

Digital platforms controlled by Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Tencent and Uber have transformed not only the ways we do business, but also the very nature of people's everyday lives …

Economic and Business History November 30, 2022

Impunity and Capitalism

The Afterlives of European Financial Crises, 1690–1830

Trevor Jackson

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Whose fault are financial crises, and who is responsible for stopping them, or repairing the damage? Impunity and Capitalism: The Afterlives of European Financial Crises, 1690-1830 (Cambridge University Press, 2022) …

Technology November 28, 2022

The Handbook of Banking Technology

Tim Walker and Lucian Morris

Hosted by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo

In The Handbook of Banking Technology (John Wiley & Sons, 2021), Walker and Morris provide a first comprehensive view of the systems that support a bank. During the interview, they bring out …

Critical Theory November 17, 2022

Highly Discriminating

Why the City Isn't Fair and Diversity Doesn't Work

Louise Ashley

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Can we make the finance industry fair? In Highly Discriminating: Why the City Isn’t Fair and Diversity Doesn’t Work (Bristol UP, 2022), Louise Ashley, Associate Professor and IHSS Fellow at Queen Mary …

Economic and Business History November 7, 2022

Foreign Banks and Global Finance in Modern China

Banking on the Chinese Frontier, 1870-1919

Ghassan Moazzin

Hosted by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo

Using previously unexplored and meticulously analyzed sources from China and to a lesser extent Japan, combined with those of Germany and the UK, Ghassan Moazzin provides a refreshing look at a number …