Corrupt Money

'The scandal is why we remember it. Because we remember the prints and the plays and the poems and all the other things that say that finance is a casino and people went gambling mad.'

In this episode, we examine the South Sea Company with Dr Helen Paul, a lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton and an expert on the South Sea Company.

Most people don't realise how important the Suez Canal is to all the things that we have.

In this episode, we analyse the 2021 blockage of the Suez Canal with Kit Chellel, an award-winning journalist, a reporter for the Bloomberg, and one of the first journalists to investigate the Evergiven Suez blockage.

'The current government is even closer to corporations. They need to show there is some positive payoff from Brexit.'

In this episode, we look at the Bank of Credit and Commerce International with Prem Sikka, a member of the House of Lords and an emeritus professor of Accounting at the University of Sheffield and the University of Essex. 

'You can't look at economics in the same way as looking at building a house or a car. The truth is more organic.'

In this episode, we examine the Japanese Lost Decade through the lens of Richard Werner with Michael Oswald, an award-winning independent filmmaker of films such as The Spider's Web or 97% Owned. 

Michael has recently released a new film The Man Who Knew Too Much, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8FDPU-tDBU

It is always worth studying the Great Depression, even just to understand how an economic catastrophe can take place.

In this episode, we analyse the most impactful economic crisis in history with Douglas A. Irwin, a John French Professor in Economics at Dartmouth College and an expert on past and contemporary US trade policy.

It's very easy in hindsight to smugly say: 'Oh I would have never fallen for Bernie Madoff or some conman trying to get my money.' You're fooling yourself.

In this episode, we explore the extraordinary life of Bernie Madoff with Diana B. Henriques, an award-winning financial journalist and author.

Heavy penalties for banks that don't pursue red flags will make a difference. Goldman got a bit lucky.

In this episode, we take a look at the 1MDB scandal with Bradley Hope, a Wall Street Journal reporter and a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

"In many cases, when we look at companies, we see that what they're actually paying, the effective tax rate, could be as low as one percent or two percent and in some cases zero, nothing at all."

In this episode, we explore the hidden yet significant forces behind global tax havens with John Christensen, the Director and Chair of the Board of the Tax Justice Network.

'Thanks to Parmalat, we were able to do important reforms that we wanted to do, that we wouldn't be able to do without the Parmalat scandal.'

This episode explores the intriguing Italian Parmalat scandal with Andrea Melis, a professor of Accounting and Corporate Governance at the University of Cagliari.

"We need to have much more transparency and many more checks and balances in the audit profession."

In this episode, we will take a look at Wirecard and its downfall with Olaf Storbeck, a Frankfurt Correspondent for the Financial Times who has covered the story extensively for many years.

"Financial markets are not all random and independent of each other."

In this episode, we will discuss the incredible story of Long-Term Capital Management with Roger Lowenstein, a best-selling author and a financial journalist for the WSJ, Washington Post and other publications.  

"We can never outlaw human nature."

In this episode, we will explore the life of the infamous Charles Ponzi with Mitchell Zuckoff, a professor of journalism at Boston University, a best-selling author, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist.