Episode 28
Dr. Marion Labouré is a director in the thematic research team covering technology at Deutsche Bank. Prior to this, she worked as an economist at the Luxembourg Central Bank, the European Commission, and Barclays. She was also a fellow researcher at the International Monetary Fund and the author of books covering capital markets and financial technology. Dr. Labouré holds a PhD in economics from the Ecole Normale Superieure, and a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics, as well as a master’s in finance from the University of Paris Dauphine. She is considered one of the top 45 fintech specialists in the world as of 2022.
Dr. Labouré was a visiting scholar at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University from 2018-2019, during which time she was an associate of the department of economics at Harvard. She currently teaches or co-teaches two courses – Microeconomic Theory and Financial Technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrencies) – at Harvard Extension School.
She is the co-author, with Nicolas Deffrennes, of “Democratizing Finance: The Radical Promise of Fintech” which was published in the spring of 2022 by Harvard University Press.
The subject of the book is how digital technology and financial technology (or fintech) has transformed and continues to transform the world of finance by enabling people with fewer resources around the globe to access banking, insurance, credit, investment, and other financial services. We were honored to be able to speak at length with Dr. Labouré about some of the claims made in the book — specifically that financial innovations can increase accessibility, and can play a role in reducing inequality and addressing social challenges around the world.