Have Capitalism and Democracy been Captured by the Elite? A talk by Raghuram Rajan.

Have Capitalism and Democracy been Captured by the Elite? A talk by Raghuram Rajan.http://www.haverford.edu/calendar/details/191561KINSC Sharpless Auditorium2012-03-28T17:30:002012-03-28T19:00:00

March 28, 5:30PM

KINSC Sharpless Auditorium

Made possible through the William S. Comanor '59 Lecture Series

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Across the industrial world, there is a sense amongst protesters that capitalism and democracy have been captured by the few, and policies stem from the moneyed and for the moneyed.  The rising wealth of the “one percenters”, the bank bailouts, and the steady loss of manufacturing jobs with good benefits are all presented as prima facie evidence of elite capture, especially in the United States. Yet at the same time, the channels through which the public can get information and the means through which it can organize have multiplied in recent years. Is the power of capital really so strong? Is “labor”  weak? Has democracy atrophied?  Dr. Rajan will argue that if we examine developments across industrial countries over the last few decades, focusing both on macroeconomics and the evolution of the corporation, the answer has to be no to all these questions. That is not to say there are no problems, only that they stem primarily from different sources than elite capture.

Raghuram Rajan is the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is currently an economic advisor to the Prime Minister of India. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund, the youngest individual to hold that post. He chaired the Indian government’s High Level Committee on Financial Sector Reforms, which submitted its report in September 2008.

Dr. Rajan’s research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development, especially the role finance plays in it. His 2003 book (with Luigi Zingales) entitled Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists was followed by Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, which was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book in 2010.

In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize, given every two years to the financial economist under age 40 who has made the most significant contribution to the theory and practice of finance.

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