Global Capitalism, Trust and Accountability Conference
Global Capitalism, Trust and Accountability Conference
Friday, April 4, 2025 | 1:30 PM - Saturday, April 5, 2025 | 5:30 PM
(Pacific)
Virtual: Open to the public
The Program on Capitalism and Democracy
presents a two-day conference
Co-sponsored by the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL)
Are democratic governments equipped and willing to hold global capital accountable, and does their failure to do so affect citizens’ trust?
Global capitalism has reshaped trade, economic priorities, and financial flows — and, in doing so, has also transformed societies and politics. However, the transnational nature of global capital has presented an intellectual and policy challenge as corporate activities and corruption adapt to the global environment. While activists, journalists, and scholars have investigated and publicized these issues, much work remains to develop coherent analytical understandings of these problems.
Democratic governments often struggle to establish and enforce proper rules for corporate malfeasance and corruption. Domestic regulations present jurisdictional challenges, and corporate law, which enables corporations, has yet to be effective in preventing them and their leaders from dodging accountability in global markets. The world of global capital is opaque, designed explicitly to hide assets or evade the reach of governments. The financialization of the global economy has expanded the power not only of banks but also of professional services that facilitate ties between wealthy individuals, political leaders, and tax havens or shelters.
This conference brings together scholars across the disciplines of law, business, social sciences, and history, as well as practitioners and journalists, to explore the challenge of creating trust and accountability in a system dominated by global capitalism. In convening together, we aim to advance research, education, and policy on these critical issues.
Organizers
Anat Admati (George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics, GSB, and Faculty Director of the Capitalism and Democracy Program at CDDRL) and Didi Kuo (Center Fellow, CDDRL)
FRIDAY, APRIL 4
1:30 - 1:45 — Introduction and Opening Remarks
- Anat Admati, George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- Didi Kuo, Center Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
- Kathryn Stoner, Mosbacher Director, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law
- Peter DeMarzo, Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Business (Interim)
1:45 - 3:15 pm Session 1 — Why Trustworthy Governments are Essential
For markets and capitalism to continue producing broad-based prosperity, governments must maintain the institutions that underpin the market economy, ensuring that property and human rights are protected, that people have fair access to society’s resources and that contracts and laws are enforced effectively. This panel examines the forces that can help make institutions trustworthy or in turn cause trust to erode, framing key issues that the rest of the conference explores.
Panelists:
- Vic Khanna (Michigan Law)
- Naomi Lamoreaux (Yale History)
- Alexander Cooley (Barnard Political Science)
Discussant: Rick Messick (Global Anticorruption Blog)
Moderator: Curtis Milhaupt (Stanford Law)
3:15 - 3:45 — Break
3:45 - 5:15 pm — Session 2: Opacity and Illicit Flows
The globalization of financial flows, and the opacity of the global economic system and of many governments, have increased opportunities for wealthy individuals, kleptocrats and terrorists to evade law enforcement. How can we conceptualize and measure these problems and the harm they cause? What is the role of anonymous and multinational corporations, secrecy jurisdictions, transnational actors, and cryptocurrencies in shaping these opportunities, and how might these problems be addressed?
Panelists:
- Dan Neilson (UT Austin Political Science)
- Gary Kalman (Transparency International US)
- Brooke Harrington (Dartmouth Sociology)
Discussant: Mark Weidemaier (UNC Law)
Moderator: Victoria Baranetsky (General Counsel at The Center for Investigative Reporting)
5:30 - 6:15 pm — Virtual Keynote
Tom Wright
Co-author of the New York Times bestseller, 'Billion Dollar Whale;' Wall Street Journal's Asia Economics Editor (2013 - 2019); and Co-Founder of Project Brazen, the production studio that launched the hit podcast, 'Fat Leonard.'
6:30 — Reception and Dinner
SATURDAY, APRIL 5
8:00 - 8:30 am — Breakfast
8:30 - 9:15 am — Keynote
Judge Jed Rakoff
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York since 2010
Moderator: Rohit Chopra (Former CFPB Director and FTC Commissioner)
9:15 - 10:45 am — Session 3: The Law and Politics of Fighting Corruption
Can democratic governments and global institutions. through laws and international agreements, address corruption in its many forms within and across jurisdictions? What are the political forces that interfere with such efforts? This panel examines the mechanisms and tools that are available to policymakers, media and the public, to fight corruption in the private sector and in government, and the political and institutional challenges.
Panelists:
- Kevin Davis (NYU Law)
- Gerhard Schick (co-founder and co-head of Finanzwende Recherche)
- John Githongo (Anti-corruption activist)
Discussant: Vikrant Vig (GSB)
Moderator: Luigi Zingales (Chicago)
10:45 - 11:15 am — Break
11:15 am -12:45 pm — Session 4: Greed, Norms, Culture, and Trust
Norms and culture, both in corporations, in government bodies, and in society at large, play a significant role in promoting trust and preventing misconduct. Global capitalism and democratic institutions reflect norms, but they also reshape them. This panel investigates the societal and democratic norms shaping transparency, whistleblowing, ways to hold power to account, and ultimately trust in institutions.
Panelists:
- Jonathan Katz (The Brookings Institution)
- Peter Solmssen (Former Managing Board Member and General Counsel, Siemens AG)
- Miriam Baer (Brooklyn Law)
Discussant: Paola Sapienza (Hoover Institution)
Moderator: Didi Kuo (CDDRL)
12:45 - 1:45 pm Lunch
1:45 - 3:15 pm — Session 5: Corporate Misconduct and the Law
What are the tools for deterring corporate misconduct, and are these tools being used effectively? This panel of experts on white-collar crime will explain why laws and enforcement mechanisms may fail to deter corporate misconduct and why corporate leaders are rarely appropriately held accountable. What is the interplay of institutions, politics, and power that undermines the rule of law in the corporate context?
Panelists:
- Ellen S. Podgor (Stetson Law School)
- Elizabeth Pollman (Penn Law School)
- Fabio De Pasquale (Prosecutor, Milan Italy)
Discussant: Jennifer Taub (Wayne Law School)
Moderator: Anat Admati (GSB)
3:15 -3:45 pm — Break
3:45 -5:15 pm — Session 6 (Round Table): What Academics, Activists, and the Media Can Do
This roundtable will enable all participants to brainstorm how academics, activists, and journalists can work together to accomplish shared goals around global capitalism and accountability. How are each sector's resources, voices, and contributions best deployed? How might individuals and organizations align their work and objectives? And most importantly, how might we create a more trustworthy and fair economic system for the 21st century?
Moderator: Bethany McLean (Journalist, author)