Financial Guru

Nomi Prins

Who is Nomi Prins?

Nomi Prins is an American economist, historian, statistician, thought leader, public speaker, investigative journalist, and best-selling author. She has built a world-renowned reputation as an insider and leading authority on the role economics and global financial events play in our daily lives. She has also acquired inside knowledge of the inner workings of Wall Street and the global financial system. Following years of serving senior roles at major financial institutions, Dr. Prins has become an outspoken advocate for economic reform with her unique perspectives from both the ground level and the point of view of prominent decision-makers shaping the world’s geopolitical and financial framework.

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Born in 1967 in Poughkeepsie, New York, Nomi graduated with a major in mathematics from SUNY Purchase and an MS in statistics from NYU. She then received her Ph.D. in International Strategic Studies with a specialty in International Political Economy from Brazil’s Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.

Before becoming a world-renowned journalist, author, and authority on the inner workings of global finance, Nomi cut her teeth at some of the world’s largest and most prominent financial institutions. She became one of the youngest managing directors to serve at Goldman Sachs. Dr. Prins also served as senior managing director at Bear Stearns’s London branch, spearheading the international analytics group. She also served as a strategist at Lehman Brothers and an analyst at Chase Manhattan Bank.

While working in finance, she became increasingly disillusioned with Big Banks’ greed and unethical practices. The more unethical practices she saw poisoning the banking industry, the more she wanted to become an advocate for financial reform.

Eventually, she had enough of the corruption and immoral tactics. She took it upon herself to expose the rigged nature of financial systems and central banks and how their practices serve only an elite few at the public’s expense.

She then became an investigative journalist and author. After leaving the industry in disgust in 2022, two years later, she published her first book, “Other People’s Money: The Corporate Mugging of America. As she exposed and lambasted day-to-day life in the financial world, unethical practices, and recklessness, she accurately predicted the catalysts for and the timing of the financial crisis, which would occur four years later. The Economist, Barron’s, and Library Journal rated it as one of 2004’s Best Books.

Her other works have also transformed how we look at the global economy. These include:

Nomi’s forthcoming book entitled “Permanent Distortion” could be her most important work yet. Anticipated for release in October 2022, “Permanent Distortion” is a phrase she coined which describes how the Federal Reserve has created conditions where markets artificially feed off its monetary policy decisions. Her new book, according to Dr. Prins’s Twitter, “reveals how the pandemic sent Wall Street into overdrive while the economic reality on Main St has reached a point of no return.”

In addition to her books, she has contributed to several prestigious publications, including but not limited to The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Newsday, The Guardian, The Nation, New York Daily News, La Vanguardia, and Salon.com.

She has also appeared regularly on television networks like the BBC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, CSPAN, Democracy Now, Fox, and PBS, and hundreds of radio shows, including for Marketplace, NPR, BBC, and Canadian Programming. She has also appeared in several award-winning documentaries.

She has also built an impressive career as a speaker. She recently presented at the Federal Reserve’s annual gathering of senior-level governors and officials. Dr. Prins also presented for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and at the World Bank conference in Washington D.C. Besides speaking at conferences and conventions, she has delivered outstanding keynote speeches at the London School of Economics, the UK Parliament, the Mexican Senate, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Google, Columbia University, and the National Consumer Law Center.

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While, on the surface, Prins’s insights and perspective may be left-leaning, politicians from all parties have sought her counsel. Most recently, Nomi served on Senator Bernie Sanders’ Federal Reserve Reform Advisory Council during his presidential campaign.

In addition to her economic activism, Prins is considered one of America’s TopWonks, a list of America’s Progressive experts. She also serves on several advisory boards, including whistle-blowing group ExposeFacts, animal welfare and wildlife conservation nonprofit The Elephant Project, and Ethical Markets. She also serves as a fellow for the non-partisan think tank, Demos.

Today, Prins keeps Los Angeles, CA, as her home base. Leading up to the release of her new book, she will continue leveraging her expertise and spreading her message at conferences worldwide while providing insightful and actionable content through media appearances, articles, and newsletters.

NOMI PRINS REVIEW

You could define Nomi Prins as an alarmist, a radical, and a socialist. On the surface, serving on Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign and ending up on the list of TopWonks could immediately make people of a particular mind state blow her off.

But if there’s one thing in this world that’s bipartisan, in today’s hyper-partisan society, it’s Nomi Prins. Facts and numbers don’t have political leanings, and as she tweeted in 2019, “money knows no political party.”

Prins knows what she’s talking about concerning global economics and is undoubtedly a leading authority. She saw firsthand the inner workings of the worldwide financial system and found it rotten and rigged. While she may spout off uncomfortable truths for many, and elites and corporations probably hate her, there is a reason why she’s appeared on television networks from all sides of the political spectrum and why politicians from both the right and the left seek her counsel.

Nomi Prins is an investigator exposing how the global economy only serves an elite few. She has seen a lot in her career and has made several calls that have become true.

For one, her award-winning book “Other People’s Money: The Corporate Mugging of America” accurately predicted the 2008 financial crisis.

Additionally, she has consistently called out the Federal Reserve’s policies and how it enables worsening economic inequality and a gross imbalance between Wall Street and Main Street. Her most recent best-seller, “Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World,” exposed a new era of unchecked power for central banks to impact markets and the global economy.
This book was published in 2018, 2 years before the coronavirus crash and before unprecedented economic stimulus from the Fed artificially pumped up the market and made the rich richer.

Her upcoming book, “Permanent Distortion,” dives deeper into what happened, where we sit now, and what it means for our future.

Coincidentally, those same big banks that have become Prins’s public enemy number one are starting to spout her same principles. In an August 15, 2022, note to clients, Morgan Stanley said valuations in equities don’t resemble the current economic and earnings landscape and that the bear market is not yet over. BlackRock mentioned similar points separately and, like Prins, blamed the Fed.

Economist Mohammed El-Arian also recently called out the Fed’s monetary policy and inability to act fast enough before inflation took hold. Now it’s in a position with no choice but to ‘break this economy.’

Low-interest rates serve their purpose of stimulating the economy. But it only helps a select few. When rates stay artificially suppressed for too long, the wealthiest abuse easy monetary policy, while lower-income savers, seniors, and retirees get crushed.

A Forbes article, “Time To Admit That Central Bank Interest Rate Suppression Doesn’t Work,” mentions how “low-interest rates have turbocharged wealth inequality.”

Data from Pew Research Center corroborates Dr. Prins’s points. In 1983, the richest held under 60% of all wealth. By 2016, this spiked to 79%. In that same time frame, the share of the middle class dropped from under 1/3 to roughly half that. As Prins foretold, the poorest saw the short end of the stick. Their wealth share plunged from about 7% in 1983 to under 4% by 2016.

The worst part? This data doesn’t even consider what happened after 2020.

Whenever central banks have attempted to drastically raise artificially low-interest rates, similar to what the Fed is doing, the results have been catastrophic and ended in a recession. Japan in 2000 and 2006, Sweden in 2010, the ECB in 2011, etc…

It’s clear that based on her previous works, others also hold her insights in high regard. “Other People’s Money: The Corporate Mugging of America” was chosen as a Best Book of 2004 by The Economist, Barron’s, and Library Journal. The Financial Times referred to her book “All the Presidents’ Bankers” as “a calm, authoritative elucidation of verifiable history.” At the same time, American Prospect said, “Even those who have read Secrets of the Temple, William Greider’s massive and brilliant 1987 exposé of the Federal Reserve, will find Prins’s book worth their time. She presents a new narrative, one that shows how the changing cast of six has shaped America’s fortunes under presidents in both parties.”

If you’re still wondering if Nomi Prins is legit or exclusively socialist masking as a capitalist, her insider knowledge and wide-ranging expertise speak for themselves.

Education

  • Bachelor of Science in Mathematics (minor in Music) from SUNY Purchase
  • Master of Science in Statistics from NYU
  • PhD in International Strategic Studies (specialization in International Political Economy) from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil

Careers

Finance

  • Managing Director at Goldman Sachs (2000-2002)
  • Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns & Co. (1993-2000)
  • Senior Strategist at Lehman Brothers (1991-1993)
  • Analyst at Chase Manhattan Bank

Economist

  • Senior Fellow at Demos (a non-partisan public policy think tank (2002-2016)
  • Member of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ panel of top economic advisors
  • Testified before U.S. Senate on Wall Street greed (2022)
  • Listed as one of America’s TopWonks
  • Member of advisory board for ExposeFacts
  • Member of global advisory board for Ethical Markets

Investigative Journalist/Author

  • Editor of Distortion Report, a financial newsletter
  • Recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from Americans for Democratic Action – SoCal (2018)
  • Full books list here
  • Her first book, “Other People’s Money,” was chosen as a Best Book of 2004 by the Economist, Barron’s, and The Library Journal
  • Founder of KnowMoney, a women’s business, economic, and personal finance forum
  • Has appeared on hundreds of TV and radio shows, including CNN, MSNBC, Fox, BBC, C-SPAN, Democracy Now, PBS, Marketplace, NPR, and Canadian Programming
  • Articles have appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Newsday, Mother Jones, The Guardian, The Nation, New York Daily News, etc.
  • Registered speaker with the American Program Bureau. Has given speeches at the Federal Reserve/IMF/World Bank annual gathering, the London School of Economics, the U.K. Parliament, the Mexican Senate, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Google, Columbia University, the National Consumer Law Center, etc.

Publications