Lehman Brothers | Too Big, Still Failing
2/10/202631 min
Like many Americans, the 2008 financial crisis left Anat Admati furious. A professor at Stanford, she became one of the country’s leading voices calling attention to how confusion, complexity and misleading claims allowed major banks to load up on dangerous amounts of debt. Today, she argues that little has changed. In this conversation, we discuss the faulty arguments bankers use to fight oversight, how corporate power has expanded in the years since the crisis, and what can be done to create a fairer and more stable economy.
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First 90 secondsLindsay Graham· Host0:00
[upbeat music] From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American Scandal. [upbeat music] In the fall of two thousand and eight, the collapse of Lehman Brothers sent shockwaves through the global economy. Within only days, markets crashed, and millions of people watched their jobs, homes, and savings vanish. It was the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression, and regular people bore the brunt of the pain. But the banks that caused the disaster were rescued, and the executives at the helm escaped without meaningful consequences and their wealth intact. In the years since, the financial sector has only grown larger, more complex, and more powerful. Corporate influence has expanded, while the gap between the wealthy and everyone else has widened dramatically. For many Americans, the sense of economic security that vanished in two thousand and eight has never truly returned. My guest today is Anat Admati. She's a professor at Stanford University and one of the most outspoken critics of the banking industry. Her work focuses on financial regulation, corporate governance, and the dangers of an economy