Russian and East European Studies
Graduate Student in History
M.Sc., International and World History, London School of Economics, 2018
M.A., International and World History, Columbia University, 2018
B.A., History and German (with honors), Binghamton University, 2016
Alex Royt studies the economic and social history of Modern Russia. While originally a scholar of international history and international political economy, he is current researching the function and history of banking in socialist economies. This has brought his work in conversation with prominent themes in business and financial history, such as the growth of the firm and financial innovation. His dissertation seeks to examine how Soviet finance worked between the end of the Russian Civil War and the beginning of the Second World War. By tracking the reforms and practices of financial intermediation, it examines the role of banks in the industrialization process under Stalinism.
He served as co-President of Clio, the history department's graduate student organization, in 2019-2020.
Advisor: Marc Flandreau
Committee Members: Peter Holquist, Ben Nathans, Marc Flandreau
Research Interests
Modern Russia, Business History, Financial History, Social History, Economic History, Modern European Political Thought, Financial Economics.
Selected Publications
"The Gamestop bubble is an age-old financial craze with a modern twist," Washington Post, January 29, 2021.
