Tom Burgis is an investigations correspondent at the Financial Times, based in London. Previously, he was the paper’s west Africa correspondent, based in Lagos, and Johannesburg correspondent. His latest book, “Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World,” chronicles the world of dirty money and its complex web of criminals, money launderers, and politicians who enable it. The Washington Post calls it a “magisterial account of the money and violence behind the world’s most powerful dictatorships.” His book, “The Looting Machine: Warlords, Tycoons, Smugglers and the Systematic Theft of Africa’s Wealth,” was published in 2015. The New York Times called it a “brave, defiant book.” Burgis won top prize for investigative reporting at the 2015 Society of Publishers in Asia awards and FT’s Jones-Mauthner Memorial Prize in 2013, and was short-listed in 2015 for the European Press Prize and Young Journalist of the Year at the 2010 British Press Awards. Before joining the FT, he did a stint in Chile and traveled the world covering globalization and its discontents.
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Episode 160
Tom Burgis
Rise of a New Kleptocracy: How Dirty Money is Conquering the World | Tom Burgis
Tom Burgis is an investigations correspondent at the Financial Times, based in London. Previously, he was the paper’s west Africa correspondent, based in Lagos, and Johannesburg correspondent. His latest book, “Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World,” chronicles the world of dirty money and its complex web of criminals, money launderers, and politicians who enable it. The Washington Post calls it a “magisterial account of the money and violence behind the world’s most powerful dictatorships.” His book, “The Looting Machine: Warlords, Tycoons, Smugglers and the Systematic Theft of Africa’s Wealth,” was published in 2015. The New York Times called it a “brave, defiant book.” Burgis won top prize for investigative reporting at the 2015 Society of Publishers in Asia awards and FT’s Jones-Mauthner Memorial Prize in 2013, and was short-listed in 2015 for the European Press Prize and Young Journalist of the Year at the 2010 British Press Awards. Before joining the FT, he did a stint in Chile and traveled the world covering globalization and its discontents.
In Episode 160 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Tom Burgis, an investigations correspondent at the Financial Times who is also the author of Kletopia, a book that chronicles the world of dirty money, with its complex web of criminals, money launderers, and politicians who enable it.
In recent decades, we have witnessed in the West the rise of a new kleptocracy that knows no boundaries and obeys few laws, which is enabled by a sort of political consensus to loot. This looting has become so pervasive that the money extracted by its members is enough to buy the political power needed to change the laws and loot some more. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of fraud, criminality, and widespread corruption of the very systems of liberal, democratic capitalism that these kleptocrats depend upon for their survival.
Unfortunately, the conduits through which we learn about this phenomenon are themselves often held captive, to one degree or another, by these same forces. The more obvious their looting becomes and the more our elected officials choose to ignore or divert our attention away, the more radicalized and susceptible the electorates become to the promises of candidates who seek to fill the vacuum of trust left by our politicians with power.
In their conversation today, Demetri and Tom discuss the nature of this problem and why it poses such a serious threat to the very systems that it seeks to exploit.
You can access the episode overtime, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Supercast Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.
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Tom Burgis is an investigations correspondent at the Financial Times, based in London. Previously, he was the paper’s west Africa correspondent, based in Lagos, and Johannesburg correspondent. His latest book, “Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World,” chronicles the world of dirty money and its complex web of criminals, money launderers, and politicians who enable it. The Washington Post calls it a “magisterial account of the money and violence behind the world’s most powerful dictatorships.” His book, “The Looting Machine: Warlords, Tycoons, Smugglers and the Systematic Theft of Africa’s Wealth,” was published in 2015. The New York Times called it a “brave, defiant book.” Burgis won top prize for investigative reporting at the 2015 Society of Publishers in Asia awards and FT’s Jones-Mauthner Memorial Prize in 2013, and was short-listed in 2015 for the European Press Prize and Young Journalist of the Year at the 2010 British Press Awards. Before joining the FT, he did a stint in Chile and traveled the world covering globalization and its discontents.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
