New Books in Finance

Marshall Poe
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Investing
  • Updated Biweekly

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

  1. May 16

    Jesper Rangvid, "How Low Interest Rates Change the World: Global Trends Caused by Low Rates and Emerging Factors Shaping the Future of Rates" (Oxford UP, 2025)

    How Low Interest Rates Change the World: Global Trends Caused by Low Rates and Emerging Factors Shaping the Future of Rates (Oxford UP, 2025) explores the societal impact of changing interest rates. Taking its starting point in the remarkable four-decade decline in global interest rates from 1980 to 2020, the book examines five global trends it caused, the underlying factors that drove interest rates lower, and emerging trends likely to shape the future path of interest rates. The book contends that the steady decline in interest rates around the world from 1980 to 2020 played a pivotal role in shaping five significant global trends during the same period: soaring debt levels, escalating housing prices, surging stock markets, widening economic inequality, and increased financial risk-taking. The book also explores emerging factors likely to shape the future trajectory of interest rates. While demographic trends may keep rates low, other forces, such as rising public debt, can push them higher. The book offers its perspective on the interaction of these opposing trends, and presents its view on the future evolution of interest rates. How Low Interest Rates Change the World is a no-nonsense fact-based book written in plain language. A key feature of the book is its empirical approach and reliance on data. Figures and tables richly illustrate and support the arguments presented, thereby inviting a broad audience to follow its fascinating journey into the evolution of interest rates and their impact. Transcript here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

    50 min

  2. May 13

    Photis Lysandrou, "Dollar Dominance: Why It Rules the Global Economy and How to Challenge It" (Policy Press, 2025)

    In a world shaken by crises, why does the dollar continue to dominate? In Dollar Dominance: Why It Rules the Global Economy and How to Challenge It (Policy Press, 2025) Photis Lysandrou explores the interaction between global instability and the enduring strength of the dollar. Drawing on examples from the 2008 Great Financial Crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the author reveals how uncertainty and instability in global trade, production and politics drives investors towards the safety of the dollar, reinforcing its dominance over other currencies. With clear and insightful analysis, Lysandrou reveals the true global financial foundations of dollar dominance, and lays out what it would take for other currencies such as the Euro to challenge its position Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

    54 min

  3. Apr 30

    Paul Blustein, "King Dollar: The Past and Future of the World's Dominant Currency" (Yale UP, 2025)

    The U.S. dollar is the world’s most important currency. Trade is priced in dollars, the world’s central banks keep U.S. dollars in reserve, some places–including my home of Hong Kong, peg their currencies to the dollar. But what explains the U.S. dollar’s success? And why have some challengers, like the Japanese yen or the Chinese yuan, failed to gain traction? Paul Blustein, author of King Dollar: The Past and Future of the World's Dominant Currency, joins us on the show today; the book was released last year, and is now in paperback. In his book, Paul talks about how the U.S. dollar got to where it is today and punctures some of the myths surrounding dollar dominance–like the idea that the “petrodollar” made a difference. Paul is a senior associate with the Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is also the author of several critically acclaimed books about global economic affairs. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, he spent much of his career as a reporter at the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. A programming note: we recorded this interview on April 4th, about a month after the U.S. first launched its strikes on Iran. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

    52 min

  4. Apr 28

    Trevor Jackson, "The Insatiable Machine: How Capitalism Conquered the World" (Norton, 2026)

    How did an economic system that was the result of largely uncoordinated and unplanned individual decisions come to dominate our modern world? This is the core question that my guest, Berkeley economic historian Trevor Jackson, tries to answer in his new book, The Insatiable Machine: How Capitalism Conquered the World (Norton, 2026). Jackson begins with the origins of the global monetary system in the fifteenth century and ends in the early twentieth century, when capitalism faced its most serious challenges from communism and socialism. While wage labor and financial instruments like loans and stocks feel unremarkable today, he reminds us that “it wasn’t always this way.” Capitalism is not natural, timeless, or inevitable. Trevor Jackson is an economic historian at the University of California, Berkeley. He previous book, Impunity and Capitalism: The Afterlives of European Financial Crises, 1690–1830, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. Steven P. Rodriguez is a scholarly publishing professional and historian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

    56 min

  5. Apr 27

    Karen Hao, "Empire of AI: Inside the Race for Total Domination" (Allan Lane, 2025)

    Hello! Thanks for reaching out. I'm glad you're here! Do you have any questions or thoughts about the recent discussion with Karen Hao on AI and its societal impacts?Hello! Thanks for reaching out. I'm glad you're here! Do you have any questions or thoughts about the recent discussion with Karen Hao on AI and its societal impacts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

    39 min

  6. Apr 2

    What's Global about Sven Beckert's Capitalism (Paul Kramer, JP)

    John is joined by the brilliant and affable Paul Kramer of Vanderbilt (The Blood of Government) to discuss Capitalism: A Global History (Penguin, 2025) by Sven Beckert, Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University. With Christine A. Desan (Recall This Book adores her) he is the co-director of the Program on the Study of Capitalism at Harvard University. This builds on his marvelous previous work about the global cotton trade. John wants to know about the importance of the state as money-maker and underpinner of markets. Paul asks about the key historical ruptures; the conversation goes back a millennium to traders in Aden and in China. Together Paul and Sven speculate on the role violence plays inside the “free” market that capitalist exchange established and now somewhat remarkably sustains. The singular turning-point of the late 19th century (which Sven decided to present in three interwoven chapters) comes in for sustained attention. Mentioned in the Episode Christine Desan, Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism (2014) Ursula Le Guin “We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings.” (National Book Foundation Medal speech 2014) Ferdinand Braudel Afterthoughts on Material Civilization and Capitalism (1979) Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (1944) Listen and Read here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

    43 min

  7. Apr 1

    Eric Ries, "Incorruptible" (Authors Equity, 2026)

    Eric Ries shares how financial 'gravity' pulls great companies away from their founders' purpose, and his solutions in his new book Incorruptible (Authors Equity, 2026) Join us for a uniquely provocative conversation between our host, Richard Lucas, and renowned entrepreneur and "Lean Startup" author Eric Ries on his new book, Incorruptible. Moving beyond the surface-level summary, Richard intentionally focuses on the book's deep ethical and moral core, giving Ries the space to clarify and elaborate on his most challenging ideas.1 This is not your typical book tour stop. Richard dives into what he finds "particularly interesting," exploring why founders must prioritize building an enterprise "worth protecting" from the start—a business whose mission is protected by structural guardrails. Richard highlights memorable quotes from Eric's book, including:1 "Not every form of making money is equally good."1 "The more golden the goose, the stronger the temptation to butcher it."1 Ries explains that without these defenses, a universal, systemic force he calls "financial gravity" will inevitably pull the organization toward short-term profit maximization over "human flourishing". He argues that waiting until a business is successful to put in guardrails is "too late" because success attracts predators. Taking the principled path, though harder, Ries believes, unlocks "almost unbelievable superpowers". The discussion drills down into practical, yet philosophical questions: Can any system resist a corrupt leader? Richard challenges Ries on the possibility of an ethical defense military technology company (like those defending Ukraine), leading Ries to clarify that technology is neutral; the danger lies in who controls it. They also explore the failure of modern management practices, discussing how reliance on metrics like average hold time can create "false proxies" that actively make customer service worse. Finally, Ries advocates for a powerful solution for corporate governance: a universal director's oath, similar to the Hippocratic Oath, to bind corporate leadership to a commitment to the mission.1 Tune in to hear Ries’s candid reflections, including his personal belief that integrity is not merely ethical, but a competitive advantage—the true foundation for economic success, while emphasizing the first step for every founder and entrepreneur: "First, create something worth protecting Links & References Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad…and How Great Companies Stay Great Book release date is May 26 in the US, May 28 worldwide Amazon listing Website: here Seth Godin on false metrics Frankenstein, Incorporated by I Maurice Wormser Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

    57 min

  8. Mar 24

    J. S. Nelson, "Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know" (Oxford UP, 2021)

    The book places special emphasis on the relationship between corporations, managers, and shareholders. Drawing on Lynn Stout’s influential work on corporate governance, the authors challenge the common belief that corporate law requires managers to maximize shareholder value at all times. In reality, corporate directors and managers are expected to exercise business judgment that balances long-term corporate health, stakeholder relationships, and legal responsibilities. Shareholders play a critical role in corporate governance, but the authors emphasize that corporations are not simply machines for immediate shareholder profit. Instead, corporations are long-lived institutions that rely on cooperation among shareholders, employees, customers, communities, and regulators. Ethical management therefore requires maintaining trust across this broader network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

    1h 19m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

Information

  • Creator
    Marshall Poe
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    456
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Marshall Poe

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