no but it is a thorough word on what i wanted to find out. >> host: here is the book, gerald posner is the >> >> aho this series began by arthur's schlesinger, jr. end continued of her short biographies of nearly every president focusing on ronald reagan is the most recent. booktv has covered numerous barriers reason you can watch on the web site. my eight kids in tonight's and please keep this in mind we will have a a q&a session please get to the microphone if you do have a question. mehrsa baradaran george the faculty in fall 2012 saarinen is an associate professor. she previously tied pinky regulations at brigham young. during your time she has received significant media coverage pavilion tickets come in here temin's and american baker isn't there shall isn't international publications for go she earned her bachelor's from brigham young and her law degree from n.y.u. serving as a member from the law review. please give a warm wall come to mehrsa baradaran. [applause] >> thanks for having me. he is great to see just books if you say i've been in good -- a view the rest of my said i

leonard pitts is local columnist and joy and read joy does with phone calls but we want to introduce gerald posner, the author of several books, his most recent is this one, "god's bankers," the history of money and power at the vatican, was it is published by simon & schuster. by simon and schuster. do is "god's bankers"? >> guest: they change every 20 years or so but for the most part their bishops and cardinals of the catholic church and the one person who runs the vatican bank is the pulp. the only shareholder at vatican bank, they hire layman to run the details of the in and out of money but the presents and people responsible for the finances of the vatican are the same people who run the religion. >> host: how big is the vatican bank? how much money does it hold? has access? >> guest: in reverse order who has access is a group of people, by its charter was created in the middle of world war ii, has been around seven years in the institution. citizens of vatican city, religious orders and catholic charities, in practice it has been manhandled and this used for years by everyone from wealthy

. >> host: here is the book, gerald posner is the >> previously an academic research fellow process new line the financial institution group in new york city. she earned her bachelor's degree from nyu. [applause] >> thank you so much for having me. you come in and say i'm in the mood for something. so this book is about a problem revealed from the historical causes. my research assistant made it and it is kind of cool. over half of the population would need the money that shortfall of $400. they have to take out loans these people been each year and this is more. so when policymakers talk about this problem regulating payday loans making them go away, very frustrating. disclosure military lending. they used to bring around the military sites. right outside of it should be all the check cashiers and payday lenders. they efforts have been frustrating. essentially the same model. so, banking scholar and come at this from a different angle. i understand that the amount in price of credit that banks lend ends up being a policy decision. especially after the crisis in 2008. this is all post y

and jen gerald posner on "god's bankers: a history of money and power at the vatican." and later we talk to menzie chinn about "lost decades: the making of america's debt crisis and the long recovery" on america's debt crisis and afterwards. that is followed by after words with ben bernanke interviewed by sharon brown. >> and now on to tonight's guest. roger lowenstein has reported for "the wall street journal" for more than a decade including his stock market column and intrensic value column. he has written several books including origins of the crash, the end of wall street and tonight's topic of discussion: "america's bank" he let me know there is a great review of it coming out in the "washington post" tomorrow so we can read about that tomorrow. he has three children and lives with his wife in newton, massachusetts. please join me in welcoming roger lowenstein. [applause] >> debra, thanks very much. a wonderful introduction. i am glad i don't have to talk about dinosaurs. i don't know much about that. what i'm going to do is mostly talk to you and read you passage

and jen gerald posner on "god's bankers: a history of money and power at the vatican." and later we talk to menzie chinn about "lost decades: the making of america's debt crisis and the long recovery" on america's debt crisis and afterwards. that is followed by after words with ben bernanke interviewed by sharon brown. >> and now on to tonight's guest. roger lowenstein has reported for "the wall street journal" for more than a decade including his stock market