2025 Global Capitalism, Trust, and Accountability Conference
The Program on Capitalism and Democracy held its 2025 Inaugural Conference on Global Capitalism, Trust and Accountability, convening a international community of legal scholars, economists, political scientists, historians, business experts, journalists, and activists for two days of urgent discussion and intellectual exchange.
Co-sponsored by Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), the event served as both a launchpad for future research and a forum for probing the evolving relationship between capitalism and democracy. Through keynote addresses, expert panels, and interactive group discussions, participants explored the growing power of global capital and the challenges it poses to democratic accountability.
A central theme running through the conference was the question of trust: why it matters in global markets, why it remains so elusive, and how both trust and trustworthiness might be restored. By the close of the event, a shared sense of purpose emerged to build a collaborative, interdisciplinary research and policy agenda that addresses the structural imbalances of global capitalism and strengthens democratic institutions for the 21st century.
Conference organizers: Anat Admati (George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics, GSB, and Faculty Director of the Capitalism and Democracy Program at CDDRL) and Didi Kuo (Center Fellow, CDDRL).
