Event
March 10, 2026
Event
February 23, 2026
Reimagining finance for democracy
The Berkeley Program on Finance and Democracy studies how finance can be made more democratic.
Democracy and finance, once mutually accommodating, now threaten to permanently part ways. Wealth accumulation through asset price appreciation rather than economic growth has decoupled elite fortunes from shared prosperity. Monetary policy has accelerated this divide, raising fundamental questions about democratic legitimacy.
Meanwhile, the rise of cryptocurrency has created new forms of concentrated financial power, and the digitization of financial infrastructure, from algorithmic trading to digital payment systems, is reshaping monetary sovereignty itself.
BPFD grapples with these realities head-on. Our mission is to catalyze critical scholarship that examines how finance drives inequality and explores democratic alternatives. We produce original research, convene scholars across disciplines, and support emerging researchers.
Current research streams
Financial oligarchy
Finance-driven wealth accumulation has produced new oligarchic structures that capture regulatory institutions and erode the capacity of democratic majorities to govern economic life.
Cryptocurrency and shadow finance
The digitization of financial infrastructure, from algorithmic trading to stablecoins to decentralized finance protocols, is creating parallel financial architectures that dilute the state’s power to control its own currency and monetary policy.
Theorizing financial accumulation
Understanding finance as a form of social power requires moving beyond existing models. This stream examines how financial mechanisms function not merely as neutral intermediaries but as active forces shaping social relations, distributional outcomes, and the boundaries of political possibility.
The latest in Finance and Democracy
Get involved
BESI welcomes inquiries from UC Berkeley faculty and graduate-level scholars working in political economy. To learn more about our research programs and how to get involved in BESI, please use our contact form.