On 1 December 2025, the Public Opinion on Competing Economic Interest Research Group welcomed Professor Chloe Thurston (Northwestern University) for a lecture on the political development and consequences of mass investment culture in the United States.
Drawing on her forthcoming book Investing in America, Professor Thurston outlined how individual investment became widespread from the mid-1960s onward, reshaping political party strategies, public attitudes toward economic security, and debates around financial risk. She also connected these trends to current issues such as app-based trading and cryptocurrency.
The session concluded with an engaging discussion on how similar research questions could be explored in European and Central and Eastern European (CEE) contexts, where investment practices and political implications may differ.
A short introduction to Professor Thurston’s work is available here: Professor’s short introduction.
