Dean Starkman writes”  Anat Admati, a professor of finance and economics at Stanford’s business school, is an unlikely player in Washington, D.C.’s financial-reform scene.

The 58-year-old Israeli-born economist arrived at Stanford in 1983 with an interest in mainstream financial issues and a firm belief that markets — with their unique ability to assign a price to risk and channel capital to its most efficient use — were a powerful force for good.

The 2008 financial crisis upended that faith. She turned her gaze to the industry at the center of the crisis: banking.

Admati made waves on the national financial-reform scene in 2013 with the book “The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong With Banking and What to Do About It,” co-authored with economist and banking expert Martin Hellwig.

She argues that requiring banks to rely more on shareholders’ money instead of borrowing funds would increase stability, harness market forces to deter risky behavior and lead to a smaller, safer system as banks pulled back on bets that didn’t make financial sense.

Her arguments have drawn fierce pushback from the banking industry, but got the attention of financial policymakers.   Dean Starkman Interviews Anat Admati