“The market is not a free market when a segment of the population is systematically excluded from participation.”
Photographed by Christina House/Los Angeles Times via Contour RA
Author and Banking Scholar
Mehrsa Baradaran
Mehrsa Baradaran, acclaimed author and professor of law, is recognized for her expertise on banking law, wealth inequality, financial regulation, and black exclusion within the financial system. Her scholarship includes the books: "How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy," and "The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap," both published by the Harvard University Press. Her latest book, "The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America," is published by North Liveright, and is described as an “essential reading to understand the economic state of the nation” by Kirkus Reviews.
Baradaran has advised U.S. Senators and Congressmen on policy, testified before the U.S. Congress, spoken at national and international forums like the U.S. Treasury and the World Bank, and was appointed to two Presidential Transition Teams.
Dive into Mehrsa Baradaran's latest release.
“Accessible and intellectually rich. An insightful examination of how neoliberalism created widespread inequality and injustice in America. Essential reading to understand the economic state of the nation.” Kirkus Review
The Quiet Coup
With the nation lurching from one crisis to the next, many Americans believe that something fundamental has gone wrong. Why aren't college graduates able to achieve financial security? Why is government completely inept in the face of natural disasters? And why do pundits tell us that the economy is strong even though the majority of Americans can barely make ends meet? In The Quiet Coup, Mehrsa Baradaran, one of our leading public intellectuals, argues that the system is in fact rigged toward the powerful, though it wasn't the work of evil puppet masters behind the curtain. Rather, the rigging was carried out by hundreds of (mostly) law-abiding lawyers, judges, regulators, policy makers, and lobbyists. Adherents of a market-centered doctrine called neoliberalism, these individuals, over the course of decades, worked to transform the nation--and succeeded.
Los Angeles Times By Jie Jenny Zou
June 23, 2024
Mehrsa Baradaran: Translator of dollars and sense
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