Katharina Pistor – författare

A compelling explanation of how the law shapes the distribution of wealthWhat is it that transforms a simple object, an idea, or a promise to pay into an asset that creates wealth? Katharina Pistor explains how, behind closed doors in the offices of private attorneys, capital is created—and why this little-known activity is one of the biggest reasons for the widening wealth gap between the holders of capital and everybody else. A powerful new way of thinking about one of the most pernicious problems of our time, The Code of Capital explores the various ways that debt, complex financial products, and other assets are selectively coded to protect and reproduce private wealth. This provocative book paints a troubling portrait of the pervasive global nature of the code, the people who shape it, and the governments that enforce it.

A fascinating study of the legal underpinnings of capitalism, reasons why the system must be transformed, and actions we can take  Even though capitalism has been conventionally described as an economic system, it is actually a deeply entrenched legal regime. Law provides the material for coding simple objects, promises, and ideas as capital assets. It also provides the means for avoiding the legal constraints that societies have frequently imposed on capitalism. Often lauded for creating levels of wealth unprecedented in human history, capitalism is also largely responsible for the two greatest problems now confronting humanity: the erosion of social and political cohesion, which undermines democratic self-governance, and the threats that emanate from climate change.  By exploring the ways that Western legal systems empower individuals to advance their interests against society, Katharina Pistor reveals how capitalism is an unsustainable system designed to foster inequity. She offers ideas for rethinking how the transformation of the law and the economy can help us create a more just system—before it is too late.

Recent high-profile corporate scandals - such as those involving Enron in the United States, Yukos in Russia, and Liverdoor in Japan - demonstrate challenges to the legal regulation of business practices in capitalist economies. Setting forth a new analytic framework for understanding these problems, "Law and Capitalism" examines contemporary corporate governance crises in six countries. Using comparative case studies that address the United States, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Russia, Curtis J. Milhaupt and Katharina Pistor argue that a disparate blend of legal and nonlegal mechanisms have supported economic growth around the world.

Recent high-profile corporate scandals—such as those involving Enron in the United States, Yukos in Russia, and Livedoor in Japan—demonstrate challenges to legal regulation of business practices in capitalist economies. Setting forth a new analytic framework for understanding these problems, Law and Capitalism examines such contemporary corporate governance crises in six countries, to shed light on the interaction of legal systems and economic change. This provocative book debunks the simplistic view of law’s instrumental function for financial market development and economic growth.             Using comparative case studies that address the United States, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Russia, Curtis J. Milhaupt and Katharina Pistor argue that a disparate blend of legal and nonlegal mechanisms have supported economic growth around the world. Their groundbreaking findings show that law and markets evolve together in a “rolling relationship,” and legal systems, including those of the most successful economies, therefore differ significantly in their organizational characteristics. Innovative and insightful, Law and Capitalism will change the way lawyers, economists, policy makers, and business leaders think about legal regulation in an increasingly global market for capital and corporate governance.  

What impact has Russia's chosen path of reform had on the development of law after the collapse of the communist regime? This collection of essays examines how Russia's distinctive traditions of law?and lawlessness?are shaping the current struggle for economic reform in the country. Nine renowned scholars, chosen from specialties in history, politi

What impact has Russia''s chosen path of reform had on the development of law after the collapse of the communist regime? This collection of essays examines how Russia''s distinctive traditions of law-and lawlessness-are shaping the current struggle for economic reform in the country. Nine renowned scholars, chosen from specialties in history, politi

What impact has Russia''s chosen path of reform had on the development of law after the collapse of the communist regime? This collection of essays examines how Russia''s distinctive traditions of law-and lawlessness-are shaping the current struggle for economic reform in the country. Nine renowned scholars, chosen from specialties in history, politi

A compelling explanation of how the law shapes the distribution of wealthCapital is the defining feature of modern economies, yet most people have no idea where it actually comes from. What is it, exactly, that transforms mere wealth into an asset that automatically creates more wealth? The Code of Capital explains how capital is created behind closed doors in the offices of private attorneys, and why this little-known fact is one of the biggest reasons for the widening wealth gap between the holders of capital and everybody else.In this revealing book, Katharina Pistor argues that the law selectively “codes” certain assets, endowing them with the capacity to protect and produce private wealth. With the right legal coding, any object, claim, or idea can be turned into capital—and lawyers are the keepers of the code. Pistor describes how they pick and choose among different legal systems and legal devices for the ones that best serve their clients’ needs, and how techniques that were first perfected centuries ago to code landholdings as capital are being used today to code stocks, bonds, ideas, and even expectations—assets that exist only in law.A powerful new way of thinking about one of the most pernicious problems of our time, The Code of Capital explores the different ways that debt, complex financial products, and other assets are coded to give financial advantage to their holders. This provocative book paints a troubling portrait of the pervasive global nature of the code, the people who shape it, and the governments that enforce it.

Freeing ourselves from the top-down control of tech oligarchsCoded power is social control—power over other people’s relationships. This can be seen today in the top-down control over data exerted by tech oligarchs—billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. DOGE’s takeover of key government institutions early in the second Trump administration was a particularly blatant example of an attempt to exercise coded power by tapping into critical information systems of government. In this book, Co-Pierre Georg and Katharina Pistor call for empowering data producers—that is, all of us who use AI and search engines, or post on social media—rather than those who control proprietary data infrastructures.Georg, an economist, and Pistor, a legal scholar, explain that coded power emerges when some assert power over the fabric that shapes society. Unchecked, it penetrates deeply into social relationships in order to advance the interests of the coders—the oligarchs—and their clients. Legal coded power goes back centuries. Digital coded power and its effect on our society have become apparent only recently. It is exercised as despotic power imposed by the will of the coders to deny data producers the right to self-determination. Choices about digital technology made in the past, Georg and Pistor argue, were often driven by libertarian ideology rather than technological inevitability. They propose an alternative, decentralized structure, aided by the blockchain and new privacy-enhancing technologies, in which data control is assumed jointly by data creators—and data sharing is determined by creators’ willingness to do so rather than the dictates of digital despots.

What impact has Russia's chosen path of reform had on the development of law after the collapse of the communist regime? This collection of essays examines how Russia's distinctive traditions of law?and lawlessness?are shaping the current struggle for economic reform in the country. Nine renowned scholars, chosen from specialties in history, political science, law, and economics, expertly address the question.By drawing on the experiences of other transition countries and of developed market economies within the context of Russian history, these essays put Russia's transition since 1991 into clearer perspective. This book compares Russia's legal tradition with the Western legal tradition; distinguishes Russia's progress in commercial law reform from that of other transition countries; and explores the politics of government as well as inside enterprises surrounding corporate law reform in prerevolutionary Russia, during perestroika, and during Russia's ambitious mass privatization program.Using comparative data, the authors assess the impact on economic reform programs of highly centralized presidential constitutions versus parliamentary constitutions. The enormous challenge posed by mounting crime and corruption is analyzed, and the economic causes and possible remedies are discussed. As statutory law reform is only one element in legal reform, the book also explores the functioning of legal institutions, including the police, other public security forces, and private dispute settlement institutions.Jeffrey Sachs and Katharina Pistor provide a wide range of factual evidence and interpretations, which will greatly enhance the debate about Russia's path toward economic and legal reform.

At one level of generality, multijuralism is the coexistence of two or more legal systems or sub-systems within a broader normative legal order to which they adhere, such as the existence of civil and common law systems within the EU. However, at a finer level of analysis multijuralism is a more widespread or common phenomenon and a more fluid reality than the civil law/common law distinction suggests. The papers in this study are therefore rooted in the latter frame of reference. They explore various types of multijural manifestations from the harmonizing potential of international treaties to indigenous law and the use of hard and soft pluralism. In addition, the authors consider the external events which are not part of the processes of multijural adjustment but which serve to influence these processes. Included among these important external events are European integration, the growing importance accorded to human rights, the international practice of law, the growth of the Internet, the globalization of markets and the flow of immigrants. This volume represents some of the most current thinking in the area of multijuralism and is essential reading for anyone interested in the coexistence of legal systems or sub-systems.

At one level of generality, multijuralism is the coexistence of two or more legal systems or sub-systems within a broader normative legal order to which they adhere, such as the existence of civil and common law systems within the EU. However, at a finer level of analysis multijuralism is a more widespread or common phenomenon and a more fluid reality than the civil law/common law distinction suggests. The papers in this study are therefore rooted in the latter frame of reference. They explore various types of multijural manifestations from the harmonizing potential of international treaties to indigenous law and the use of hard and soft pluralism. In addition, the authors consider the external events which are not part of the processes of multijural adjustment but which serve to influence these processes. Included among these important external events are European integration, the growing importance accorded to human rights, the international practice of law, the growth of the Internet, the globalization of markets and the flow of immigrants. This volume represents some of the most current thinking in the area of multijuralism and is essential reading for anyone interested in the coexistence of legal systems or sub-systems.

At one level of generality, multijuralism is the coexistence of two or more legal systems or sub-systems within a broader normative legal order to which they adhere, such as the existence of civil and common law systems within the EU. However, at a finer level of analysis multijuralism is a more widespread or common phenomenon and a more fluid reality than the civil law/common law distinction suggests. The papers in this study are therefore rooted in the latter frame of reference. They explore various types of multijural manifestations from the harmonizing potential of international treaties to indigenous law and the use of hard and soft pluralism. In addition, the authors consider the external events which are not part of the processes of multijural adjustment but which serve to influence these processes. Included among these important external events are European integration, the growing importance accorded to human rights, the international practice of law, the growth of the Internet, the globalization of markets and the flow of immigrants. This volume represents some of the most current thinking in the area of multijuralism and is essential reading for anyone interested in the coexistence of legal systems or sub-systems.

At one level of generality, multijuralism is the coexistence of two or more legal systems or sub-systems within a broader normative legal order to which they adhere, such as the existence of civil and common law systems within the EU. However, at a finer level of analysis multijuralism is a more widespread or common phenomenon and a more fluid reality than the civil law/common law distinction suggests. The papers in this study are therefore rooted in the latter frame of reference. They explore various types of multijural manifestations from the harmonizing potential of international treaties to indigenous law and the use of hard and soft pluralism. In addition, the authors consider the external events which are not part of the processes of multijural adjustment but which serve to influence these processes. Included among these important external events are European integration, the growing importance accorded to human rights, the international practice of law, the growth of the Internet, the globalization of markets and the flow of immigrants. This volume represents some of the most current thinking in the area of multijuralism and is essential reading for anyone interested in the coexistence of legal systems or sub-systems.

This book's principal aim is to critically address the institutional and substantive legal issues resulting from European enlargement, chiefly those relating to the legal foundations on which the enlarged Union is being built. The accession of new Member States creates the potential for a stronger and more powerful Europe. Realising this potential, however, will depend on the ability of the EU to develop functional and effective governance structures, both at the European level and at the level of the individual Member States. While the acquis communautaire will ensure that formal laws in the new Member States will be aligned with those of existing members, the question remains as to how effective institutions will be in implementing changes, and what effects the imposed changes will have on the legitimacy of the new legal framework.This book, containing the work of leading scholars in law and social sciences, examines the current and future legal framework for EU governance, and the role that new members will - or will not - play in the creation of that framework, paying particular attention to the specific challenges membership in the EU poses to the acceding states of Central and Eastern Europe. It is a book which will contribute to and influence debates over constitutionalism and legal harmonisation in the EU.

This book''s principal aim is to critically address the institutional and substantive legal issues resulting from European enlargement, chiefly those relating to the legal foundations on which the enlarged Union is being built. The accession of new Member States creates the potential for a stronger and more powerful Europe. Realising this potential, however, will depend on the ability of the EU to develop functional and effective governance structures, both at the European level and at the level of the individual Member States. While the acquis communautaire will ensure that formal laws in the new Member States will be aligned with those of existing members, the question remains as to how effective institutions will be in implementing changes, and what effects the imposed changes will have on the legitimacy of the new legal framework.This book, containing the work of leading scholars in law and social sciences, examines the current and future legal framework for EU governance, and the role that new members will - or will not - play in the creation of that framework, paying particular attention to the specific challenges membership in the EU poses to the acceding states of Central and Eastern Europe. It is a book which will contribute to and influence debates over constitutionalism and legal harmonisation in the EU.

El capital es la característica que define a las economías modernas pero la mayoría de la gente no tiene ni idea de dónde viene realmente. ¿Qué es, exactamente, lo que transforma la mera riqueza en un activo que automáticamente crea más riqueza? El Código del Capital explica cómo se crea el capital a puerta cerrada en los despachos de los abogados privados y por qué este hecho poco conocido es una de las principales razones de la creciente brecha de riqueza entre los poseedores del capital y todos los demás.En este revelador libro, Katharina Pistor sostiene que la ley "codifica" selectivamente ciertos bienes, dotándolos de la capacidad de proteger y producir riqueza privada. Con la codificación legal adecuada, cualquier objeto, reclamación o idea puede convertirse en capital y los abogados son los guardianes del código. Pistor describe cómo eligen entre los distintos sistemas y dispositivos jurídicos los que mejor sirven a las necesidades de sus clientes, y cómo las técnicas que se perfeccionaron hace siglos para codificar las propiedades de la tierra como capital se utilizan hoy para codificar acciones, bonos, ideas e incluso expectativas, activos que sólo existen en el derecho.Una nueva y poderosa forma de pensar sobre uno de los problemas más perniciosos de nuestro tiempo, ''El código del capital'' explora las diferentes formas en que la deuda, los productos financieros complejos y otros activos se codifican para dar ventajas financieras a sus poseedores.Este provocativo libro describe un inquietante retrato de la naturaleza global del código, de las personas que lo configuran y de los gobiernos que lo aplican.

Llibre de l'any al Financial Times i al Business InsiderEl capital és la característica que defineix les economies modernes, però la majoria de persones no tenim ni idea d'on prové. Què és, exactament, el que transforma la mera riquesa en un actiu que genera automàticament més riquesa? El codi del capital explica com es crea el capital a porta tancada a les oficines dels advocats i per què aquest fet poc conegut és un dels principals motius de l'ampliació de la bretxa de riquesa entre els titulars del capital i la resta.La jurista Katharina Pistor argumenta que la llei «codifica» selectivament determinats actius i els dota de la capacitat de protegir i produir riquesa privada. Amb la codificació legal adequada, qualsevol objecte, reclamació o idea es pot convertir en capital, i els advocats són els responsables del codi. Pistor descriu com trien entre diferents sistemes i dispositius legals els que s'ajusten millor a les necessitats dels seus clients, i com les tècniques antigues de codificació de la propietat de la terra com a capital s'utilitzen avui per codificar accions, bons, idees i expectatives.Aquest llibre provocador dibuixa un retrat preocupant de la naturalesa global del codi, de les persones que li donen forma i dels governs que l'apliquen.La Fundació Irla ha col·laborat en l'edició d'aquest llibre.