As part of the Wilson School’s “Economic Recovery: Perils, Politics and Possibilities” thematic lecture series, the Wilson School welcomed Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Bloomberg News, on April 3, 2012. Joe Fichera, visiting lecturer of public and international affairs at the Wilson School, moderated the discussion.

Winkler’s presentation was titled, “The Peril of Financial Dark Arts: How the West Got Lost Emulating Secretive Swiss Universal Banking,” and he offered up a perspective on “the world that we lost and the world we are studying to come to grips with.” Winkler spoke critically of the lack of transparency and accountability in our financial markets and the rise of a shadow banking system in the U.S. which he said fueled the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.   

Winkler stated that, “Anything that is allowed to grow with unfettered influence over something as fundamental as money, which is essential to human existence, will bring ruin to the world. And it did.”

Winkler discussed the rise of the over- the-counter derivatives market, credit default swaps, the sub-prime lending market, other “financial innovations,” too big to fail, and, how unregulated, they led to the financial crisis and its on-going impact on the country.

Winkler believes that the aftermath of the financial meltdown has given the United States less influence over how to resolve the European debt crisis.

You can listen to Winkler’s discussion here: