Michael Goldman: Hidden empire of finance
3 June 2026, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Location: University of Bath, (Room 2.45, 10 West) Claverton Down Bath BA2 7AY
Think tank: Institute for Policy Research
This event hosted by UK think tank the Institute for Policy Research discusses how cities around the world have been shaped by global finance.
Since the 1970s, new global cities have emerged as key nodes in the world economy. Professor Michael Goldman, author of Hidden Empire of Finance: How Wall Street Profits from Our Cities and Fuels Global Inequality, traces their rise and their fate following the 2008 financial crisis.
He argues that as countries including India and China sought to develop urban infrastructures that could compete with western hubs like New York, Paris and London, financial institutions began treating these new global cities as investment opportunities. Large volumes of capital now flow through complex financial tools, enabling financial firms located oceans away to own and control vast networks of public goods and services.
In this event, Michael discusses how ‘speculative urbanism’ displaces communities, deepens inequality and influences how cities around the world are planned and governed. His work offers a revealing account of the hidden financial forces shaping urban life globally.
Chaired by Dr Mihika Chatterjee, Co-Director of the Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath.
This event is open to all and there will be time for audience questions.
Speakers
Michael Goldman is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Global Studies at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He is the author of Imperial Nature and the co-editor of The Social Lives of Land and Chronicles of a Global City, among others. His latest book is Hidden Empire of Finance: How Wall Street Profits from Our Cities and Fuels Global Inequality.
Dr Mihika Chatterjee is a political economist with an interdisciplinary orientation to international development. Her research interests include the politics of late-industrialisation, the role of finance in the rural South, and labour struggles. She is a Lecturer in International Development, and Co-Director of the Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath.
