Book Jacob Soll For A Speaking Or Advisory Engagement

Positions Held

University Professor of Philosophy, History, & Accounting, University of Southern California (USC).

Has Advised the European Commission, the Governments of Portugal, Spain, and Greece, & U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Teaching Positions at Cambridge University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, and the European University Institute.

Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of St. Gallen.

Speaking Engagement Topics

State Building; Market Building; Renaissance and Enlightenment Intellectual History; The History of Banking, Finance, Stock Markets, Financial Crises, Free Markets & Free Market Thought; Accounting; The History of Economic Thought; History of Political Thought; The Role of Information in the Development of Modern States; The Development of Financial Markets

Advisory Topics

Public Financial Management, Addressing Sovereign Debt Crises, Improving Standards of Accounting & Fiscal Management of Public Institutions

Expertise Sought By

Investment Banks, National Wealth Funds, Private Sector Enterprises, Governments Seeking To Strengthen Public Finances, Think Tanks, Schools of Business, Private Equity Firms, Pension Funds, Asset Managers, Ratings Agencies, Monetary & Fiscal Policy-Makers.

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Biography

Jacob Soll is university professor of philosophy, history and accounting at the University of Southern California.

Professor Soll's work explores the origins of modern states and markets, and the ideas and historical figures behind their development.

He has documented the importance of modern accounting techniques in facilitating the development of modern economies, markets, and states & the social consequences of straying from strong principles of accounting.

His book, The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations, sheds light on the role good - and bad - accounting has played in the rise of fall of empires, corporations, and even the famed Medici banking family of Italy. The book examines the role poor accounting practices have played in causing many of the problems which afflict society today.

His research has won him numerous accolades including the 2005 Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History, the 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2011 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2011 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and the 2017 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, among others.

He has advised the European Commission, the Government’s of Greece, Portugal, and Spain, & U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

He has met with political and financial leaders across the globe to promote accounting standards and financial transparency.

He holds a Ph.D. from Magdalene College, Cambridge University and a D.E.A. from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France.

MacArthur Foundation Profile

Professor Soll Discusses His MacArthur Genius Grant Winning Research.

Ted Talk

Professor Soll Delivers A Talk On Bankers, Public Accounting, and Financial Transparency.

Speaking Engagements & Panel Events (Selected)

Professor Soll Delivers A Talk On Public Net Worth: Accounting, Government, and Democracy.

Professor Soll Discusses The History Of Free Market Thought During A Columbia University Panel Event.

Professor Soll Delivers A Talk On The History Of Accounting.

Books

“Colbert emerges from [Soll’s] pages not only as the patron saint of modern bureaucrats, but as a forceful--if somewhat repellent--personality, and as another of the great early modern figures who sought to gain unprecedented knowledge of, and mastery over, the material world.

— The New Republic