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Biden’s nominees would bring diversity to the Fed—if they’re confirmed

President Biden has announced his roster to fill key vacancies on the Federal Reserve’s 7-seat Board of Governors. If confirmed by the Senate, Biden’s nominees would advance his economic agenda at the central bank. They would diversify the ranks of economic policymakers and likely tighten supervision of Wall Street. Sarah A. Binder Senior Fellow - Governance Studies Twitter BinderSAB M Mark Spindel Chief Investment Officer, Potomac...
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The populist backlash in Chapter 11

From a bankruptcy perspective, the pandemic has unfolded differently than many expected. Prior economic crises have caused sharp upswings in bankruptcy filings. The 2007-2009 crisis was true to form, with business bankruptcy filings doubling during this time, to 60,837 in 2009 from 28,322 in 2007.1 Given that governments almost completely shut down the American economy in 2020, an even...
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Who should regulate: Chairs or majorities of the board

2021 ended with a mini-crisis at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) resulting in the chair resigning after being outvoted by a majority of the board of directors. While this fight received substantial press attention, a similar fight occurred at the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) where a majority of its board overruled its chair. These incidents highlight how...
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Opening statement of Aaron Klein at roundtable on America’s unbanked and underbanked

Chairman Himes, Ranking Member Steil, members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to participate at this roundtable on America’s unbanked and underbanked. I laud the Committee’s attention to these substantial problems that impact approximately one out of four American families. Rectifying these problems is essential to achieving this Committee’s goal of addressing the growing prosperity gap. Aaron Klein Senior...
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An AI fair lending policy agenda for the federal financial regulators

Algorithms, including artificial intelligence and machine learning models (AI/ML), increasingly dictate many core aspects of everyday life. Whether applying for a job or a loan, renting an apartment, or seeking insurance coverage, AI-powered statistical models decide who will have access to the foundational drivers of opportunity and equality.1 Michael Akinwumi Chief Tech Equity Officer - National Fair Housing Alliance Twitter datawumi John Merrill Chief Technology...
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China’s payments u-turn: Government over technology

China has been at the forefront of a technological revolution in payments in both its private and public sectors. China’s tech firms succeeded in replacing the bank-based magnetic striped card world with a tech-based QR code system. Then the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) launched its central bank digital currency, followed by a series of government actions that appear...
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How Fintech Companies Can Mitigate the Racial Wealth Gap

On November 2, 2021, Brookings Metro Fellow Kristen Broady testified to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee’s Task Force on Financial Technology, during a hearing titled Buy Now, Pay More Later? Investigating Risks and Benefits of BNPL and Other Emerging Fintech Cash Flow Products. Broady’s research, as detailed in her written testimony, shows how fintech companies can mitigate racial...
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Low-cost and shrinking: Hamilton County, Ohio

Navigation November 4, 2021 Hamilton County is a declining population, low-cost county located in a low-to-moderate cost, slow-growth metropolitan area (Cincinnati, OH-IN-KY). Seven of the 16 metro area counties saw population decline from 2009 to 2019, and half of the counties fall into the lowest cost category (housing value-to-income ratios below 2.5). Hamilton had the largest population decline in the...
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Expensive and growing: Loudoun County, Va.

Navigation November 4, 2021 Loudoun County is rapidly growing, high-priced county located in a growing, high-priced metropolitan area (Washington, D.C.). All but one of the metro area’s 25 jurisdictions saw positive population growth from 2009 to 2019, and eight jurisdictions fall into the highest cost category (housing value-to-income ratios over 4). Loudoun had the second highest population growth rate in...
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An analysis of financial institutions in Black-majority communities: Black borrowers and depositors face considerable challenges in accessing banking services

Introduction Achieving the American dream—the opportunity to succeed, to provide food and shelter for family members, education for children, hope for a better life, and freedom of opportunity— requires capital. But, in the United States, access to capital for individuals and business owners is uneven based on race. The racial wealth gap remains significant. In 2019, the median net worth...
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Focus on bank supervision, not just bank regulation

Introduction Last month, the Biden administration made headlines nominating Cornell Law School Professor Saule Omarova to serve as Comptroller of the Currency, a position from which she would oversee the National Banking System. Omarova’s nomination has drawn sharp criticism from the financial services industry, placing her alongside other Biden appointments within financial regulation such as chair of the Securities and...
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Introducing the Brookings and Ashoka Collaborative Innovation Challenge: Valuing Homes in Black Communities

The time has always been right to address discrimination in housing. But since the release of the 2018 Brookings report, The devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods—which showed homes in Black-majority neighborhoods are priced on average $48,000 less than comparable homes in white-majority neighborhoods—research, social activism, and legislative action have spurred a reckoning. The real estate industry has had...
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Where is the Fed Vice Chair for Supervision?

Randal Quarles, the first Trump appointment to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, finished his four-year term as the Vice Chair for Supervision on October 13, 2021. To replace him, President Biden has nominated no one. The Fed replaced him with no one. For now, the Fed’s vital supervisory and regulatory priorities will be managed by the Fed’s Board...
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Policymakers must enable consumer data rights and protections in financial services

After years of inactivity, momentum is gathering for policy action on issues related to consumer financial data in the United States. In July, the president issued an executive order encouraging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to enable data portability in financial services. The CFPB issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking last year and expects to commence a...
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Stability and inclusivity of stablecoins: A conversation with Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire

While cryptocurrency has been around for over a decade, it has only gained mainstream popularity recently. Crypto backers see the technology as the way of the future, but its instability leaves others skeptical. As a less volatile alternative to traditional cryptocurrencies, asset-backed stablecoins have joined the market. But as with all new technology, important questions must be resolved before...
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The US needs urgently to raise its macropru game

Donald Kohn Robert V. Roosa Chair in International Economics Senior Fellow - Economic Studies Implementing robust macroprudential policy—addressing threats to financial stability beyond those that were the focus of safety and soundness on an institution-by-institution basis or of investor protection market-by-market—was a constructive outcome of the legislative and policy response to the global financial crisis of 2008-09. In the U.S., the Dodd-Frank Act...
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Regulating stablecoins isn’t just about avoiding systemic risk

It’s good news that financial regulators are focused on figuring out what to do about stablecoins because their growth is creating significant risks. But there’s a bigger picture here than how to bring these new instruments within the regulatory perimeter, or how to regulate crypto generally, even though these are important. The bigger issue is how do we modernize...
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The risks of US-EU divergence on corporate sustainability disclosure

Sustainability disclosure is in vogue, with more than 80 percent of major global companies reporting on some aspects of their social and environmental impacts. This is partly driven by growing calls for transparency by civil society organizations and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investors, who are demanding detailed and verified corporate sustainability information. ESG investments—assets that fulfill certain minimum...
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Can fintech improve health?

Abstract Access to electronic financial services, in particular digital money, has replaced the digital divide as an unintended yet significant barrier for low-income individuals to participate in new technologies, including those that lead to better health outcomes. This paper explores this problem in depth. It begins by describing and documenting the barriers, costs, and benefits to accessing and using digital...
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Financial technology: A hidden path to a healthier outcome?

New financial technology (fintech) is transforming how people use money. Money, whether by its presence or absence, has an impact on health. What are, then, the health consequences flowing from fintech? The answer is even more important if access to fintech becomes a hidden gatekeeper in the ability to access new non-financial technology that can lead to better health...
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Building a more stable financial system: Unfinished business

Twice in this still-young century central banks have had to take steps, unprecedented in size and scope, to limit the economic fallout from financial instability. While we can’t expect a financial system to withstand an overnight shut down of the global economy like we experienced in March 2020 without support from central banks and fiscal authorities, the financial market...
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The future of money: The end of cash and the rise of digital currencies

Are we heading for a cashless future? Eswar Prasad, a senior fellow at Brookings and author of the forthcoming book, “The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance,” thinks so. Credit card and cell phone payments have disrupted the physical cash market already, but Prasad says the real driving force will be central banks—as...
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Where are the Biden financial regulators?

Seven months into the Biden administration and despite rising attention to a host of diverse issues in financial regulation and monetary policy—notably concerns about inflation, central bank digital currencies, retail investing, stablecoins—the president has shown little appetite for filling pending vacancies in the financial regulatory agencies beyond the occasional (and often inconsistent) trial balloon. This is an old problem: Joe...