News and Commentary Katharina Pistor News and Commentary Katharina Pistor

Kerry Pechter on the legal coding of the “Bermuda Triangle”

How the ‘Harkin Amendment’ Enabled the ‘Bermuda Triangle’

Writing in the Retirement Income Journal in its February 2026 edition, Kerry Pechter explains how the analysis in “The Code of Capital” and “The Law of Capitalism and How to Transform It”, makes legible the legal coding of highly profitable transactions that have empowered private equity.

Read More
News and Commentary, News Katharina Pistor News and Commentary, News Katharina Pistor

Why Europe Needs a New Social Federalism

Joint commentary with Étienne Balibar, Justine Lacroix, Dominique Méda, Thomas Piketty,Guillaume Sacriste, Antoine Vauchez and Jonathan White

“….it is necessary to build a new transnational social alliance, starting from this shared interest in the survival of our democracies and thus bringing together all the forces favourable to such a project—forces that are today fragmented both at the European level and within national frameworks.” Social Europe, January 29, 2026

Read More
Commentary, News and Commentary Katharina Pistor Commentary, News and Commentary Katharina Pistor

The Time Has Come to Shutter the WEF

In order to build a new, values-based order, the leaders of the old one must descend from the “Magic Mountain” and re-engage with the flatlands. That is what Hans Castorp, the protagonist in Thomas Mann’s novel, did after having spent too many years discussing big ideas in the thin air of Davos. In his case, it was already too late. The old order had crumbled, and World War I had begun. Read more at PS

Read More
News Katharina Pistor News Katharina Pistor

Book Events: The Law of Capitalism

Upcoming events:
Deakin University, Melbourne (Australia), October 28, 2026
Maynooth University, Maynooth (Ireland), October 13, 2026
CEU Vienna, Presidential Lecture, October 15, 2026
Bayreuth University, Bayreuth (Germany), October 21, 2026
Goethe University, Frankfurt (Germany), October 20, 2026 (launch of German translation)

Past Events:
Banca d’Italia, Rome (Italy), June 17, 2026
Luiss University, Rome (Italy), June 17, 2026
AFEP Association Annual Meeting, Saint Brieuc (France), June 12, 2026
International Tax Observatory, Paris (France), June 11,2026
The Merode, Brussels (Belgium), June 3, 2026
European University Institute, Florence (Italy), May 13, 2026
Warwick University, Birmingham (UK), May 14, 2026.
Humboldt University Reading Group, May 6, 2026 (online)
Center for Political Economy @Columbia University (with Aaron Benanav, Jeremy Kessler, and Suresh Naidu), April 13, 2026
Institute for Law and Governance, WU Vienna, Webinar with Anne Sanders (Univ. Bielefeld) moderated by Verena Madner (WU Vienna), April 13, 2026
NYU, Jean Monnet Center, April 9, 2026
NYU LPE Student Group. April 6, 2026
KU Leuven: January 15, 2026
Hamburg University Law School, January 7, 2026
Columbia Law School LPE Chapter: November 19, 2025
Institute for Social Research, Frankfurt: October 24, 2025
Humboldt University: October 21, 2025
Princeton University: September 18. 2025
Amsterdam University, September 29, 2025
Yale University Law School, September 11, 2025
Tel Aviv Law School (via zoom), May 7, 2025
Richmond Law School, March 27, 2025.

Read More
Maschinenraum der Zukunft
Events and Appearances Katharina Pistor Events and Appearances Katharina Pistor

Maschinenraum der Zukunft

Dass wir in einer kapitalistischen Gesellschaft leben, wissen wir, weil es uns alle zwingt, irgendwie Geld zu machen. Wie aber macht man Kapital? Das ist weitaus weniger bekannt. Die bahnbrechenden Arbeiten der Rechtswissenschaftlerin Katharina Pistor zeigen, dass Kapital – also der Reichtum, der die Reichen reicher macht – durch spezifische Rechtsformen entsteht, die ständig raffinierter werden. Sie nennt das den „Code des Kapitals“. Code kennt allerdings auch Botchen und denkt dabei an Programmiersprache. Und tatsächlich fragt sich Katharina Pistor in ihrer aktuellen Forschung, ob es sein könnte, dass in Zukunft nicht so sehr Gesetze, sondern Algorithmen darüber entscheiden, wo sich Reichtum konzentriert. Wer kann da überhaupt noch mitentscheiden? Und wo bleibt Botchen, wenn die großen Sprachmodelle anfangen, an Code und Gesetzestexten mitzuschreiben?

9 Januar 2026

Read More