A Conversation with Michael Lewis - Not Your Usual Forecast Dinner

Financial journalist and New York Times best-selling author Michael Lewis has published sixteen books on subjects ranging from politics to Wall Street. Lewis‘s newest book, The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy, was released in October 2018 and examines a government in crisis. The Trump Administration has notoriously failed to fill vacancies in some of the most important positions in crucial government agencies like the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, and Commerce. With so much at stake, Lewis seeks out the (former) linchpins of the system—those public servants whose knowledge, dedication, and proactivity kept the machinery running for so many years—and asks them what keeps them up at night.

In December 2016, Lewis released The Undoing Project: A Friendship that Changed Our Minds. In keeping with his unparalleled ability to tell stories about "quirky individuals who zig when everyone else zags" (as The New York Times puts it), the book dives deep into the world of Daniel Kahneman decision making and human errors in judgment. His previous book, the NYT #1 best-seller Flash Boys, took the financial market and business world by storm upon its release in March 2014. The story reveals how the legal—but highly questionable—practice of high-frequency trading (HFT) has allowed certain Wall Street players to work the stock market to their advantage.

In The Blind Side, published in 2006, Lewis tells the story of NFL Offensive Tackle Michael Oher, and how his life is transformed from being a teen living on the streets of Memphis after he is adopted by white Evangelical Christians. Before that, Lewis wrote Moneyball, a book ostensibly about baseball but also about the way markets value people. Both of his books about sports became Oscar-nominated films.

Two of his most popular releases, The Big Short and Boomerang, are narratives set in the global financial crisis. His other works include The New New Thing, about Silicon Valley during the Internet boom; Coach, about the transformative powers of his own high school baseball coach; Losers, about the 1996 Presidential campaign; and Liar’s Poker, a Wall Street story based in part on his own experience working as a bond salesman for Salomon Brothers.

See Michael's full bio by clicking the link below.

The best companies and leaders win by confronting reality faster than the competition. Geoff Colvin of Fortune delivers valuable insights to help them do just that. His unique perspective stems from unparalleled access to top global business leaders who tell him what they’re seeing, thinking, and doing. As a result, Geoff can provide audiences with a clearer path for an uncertain future. Geoff unpacks actionable insights on the economic, market, political, and technological forces driving disruptive change. Geoff’s columns and cover stories in Fortune have earned him millions of loyal fans, many of whom also hear him on the CBS Radio Network, where he reaches seven million listeners each week. Geoff Colvin is author of four books including the groundbreaking international bestseller Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. His latest book is The New York Times bestseller Humans are Underrated which looks at the future of work and how humans will fit into a workplace filled with robots and smart technology.

Margaret Franklin, CFA, leads CFA Institute and its more than 170,000 members worldwide in promoting the highest standards of education, ethics, and professional excellence in the investment profession. She assumed her role in September 2019 and has more than 25 years of investment and wealth management experience.
Before joining CFA Institute, Margaret led International Wealth Management for North American and was president of BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Advisory Services in Canada. She also served as a board member of BNY Mellon Trust Company (Cayman). Margaret joined BNY Mellon in 2016.

Prior to joining BNY Mellon, Margaret held multiple senior management positions, including president of Marret Private Wealth and COO of Marret Asset Management, a credit hedge fun asset manager in Toronto, During the six-year tenure, Margaret had direct oversight of all aspects of the private wealth business. Prior to joining Marret, Margaret was a partner with KJ Harrison & Partners.
Margaret began her career in the institutional business and has worked with pension plans, endowments, foundations, and government agencies at State Street Global Advisors, Mercer, and Barclays Global Investors.

She previously served as chair of CFA Institute Board of Governors and is a former president of the CFA Society Toronto Board. She is a founding member of CFA Institute Women in Investment Initiative, a past recipient of the Alfred C. Morley Distinguished Service Award in 2014, and a member of its Future of Finance Content Council.
She is also a member of the Michael Garron Hospital Foundation Board. Margaret earned a Bachelor of Administration in Economics from McMaster University in Ontario. She is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society Toronto.