Is Democracy for Sale? Fighting for a Fair Economy
Event Details:
This event is open to:
Democracies are meant to produce fair societies and outcomes that balance competing interests. Yet many feel that when corporations, governments, and people interact in the global economy, some actors abuse their power in the pursuit of profit and cause harm with impunity along the way.
Three insightful experts discussed the challenges of creating a prosperous, fair, and trustworthy system. Patrick Alley, co-founder of Global Witness, is a pivotal figure in fighting environmental and human rights abuses. David Leonhardt is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and senior writer for The New York Times, renowned for his insightful analysis of economic and policy issues. Bethany McLean is a celebrated author and contributing editor at Vanity Fair, known for her critical examination of corporate scandals and the financial system.
Speakers
Patrick Alley is the co-founder Global Witness, an organization that identifies key links between environmental and human rights abuses, and is one of the pioneers of the global anti-corruption movement. Since 1995, Global Witness has garnered significant accolades and global recognition, including a nomination for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and several prestigious awards.
Patrick’s commitment extends beyond advocacy, having conducted over fifty field investigations globally, ranging from the destruction of rainforests in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and contributing substantially to international efforts for greater transparency and accountability in the extractive industries. His dedication reflects a core belief in the transformative power of data and transparency to address critical global challenges, leading to substantive reforms in environmental protection and governance.
Patrick Alley is the author of Very Bad People, the story of how Global Witness uncovered a worldwide network of organized criminality, kleptocracy, and corruption and exposed the people behind it. His second book, Terrible Humans, will be published in May 2024 and gives the reader a fly-on-the-wall view of the work of activists and journalists exposing a pantheon of crimes, including the operations of the Wagner Group, sanctions busting, wildlife trafficking, and top-level political corruption in the EU.
David Leonhardt is a senior writer for The New York Times, where he writes The Morning, its flagship daily newsletter. He is the author of Ours Is the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream (Random House, 2023). The Atlantic, the Financial Times, and the New Republic named it one of the best books of the year.
Previously at The Times, David was an Op-Ed columnist, the Washington bureau chief, a podcast host, and the founding editor of The Upshot section. He also led a strategy group that helped Times leadership shape the newsroom’s digital future. In 2011, David received the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
David has served on the boards of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and the Russell Sage Foundation as well as on the jury of the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. He has been a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs. He majored in applied math at Yale and previously worked for Business Week magazine and The Washington Post. David is a third-generation native of New York City.
Bethany McLean is a Contributing Editor to Vanity Fair, a columnist for Yahoo Finance, and a contributor to CNBC covering corporate governance issues. Her 2001 Fortune piece, “Is Enron Overpriced?”, was one of the first skeptical articles about the company. After Enron collapsed into bankruptcy, she co-authored (with Peter Elkind) The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron. A documentary based on the book was nominated for an Academy Award in 2006. More recently, Bethany McLean has been covering headline corporate news such as Tesla, Wells Fargo, or the Shale gas revolution in the US. She is also a regular guest on CNBC TV channel.
Student leader moderator
Claudia Alvarez Pujol, MBA ‘24