Let's Change Finance

During this lecture ‘Let’s Change Finance’, he will talk about the financial crises the world has been – and is still – witnessing, and re-address a question which has been raised many times already: who are responsible? Spronk will argue that both the financial research agenda and financial education need an overhaul.

Professor Spronk will not focus on the usual suspects and explanations, many of which have been taken for granted. Instead, he will address a suspect that has stayed remarkably well out of the spotlight, which was in his eyes not the main culprit but at least an accomplice: his own discipline of finance, including labels such as financial management science and financial economics. And he will plead guilty.

Professor Spronk will give an overview of what issues and aspects in finance require attention in order to bring more context into financial decisions and which of the issues that do receive attention need to be re-addressed with a different mindset – while paying attention to the impact of financial decisions. In a number of cases, Spronk will provide suggestions of how these elements could and in some cases should be reframed. His intention is to stimulate discussions with and among his colleagues. Considering the financial crises of 1998, 2008 and the euro crisis, Spronk will argue that the financial research agenda and financial education need an overhaul. He will explain why this cannot easily be achieved in the universities of today, but will add suggestions for improving university climate. The ultimate goal is to make financial and investment management more humane.