The recent repeal of affirmative action has catalyzed national discussion about what policies most effectively advance racial equality for Black Americans. Affirmative action, while not reparations, was a social inclusion policy that sought to increase minority representation in universities where students of color may not have been accepted due to systemic discrimination. While affirmative action […]
Tag: finance
Lebanon in Crisis: Nothing More to Lose?
“I have nothing more to lose.” These were the words of Lebanese citizen Sali Hafiz after storming a bank with a toy gun to withdraw her own money. Her widely publicized action, which she said was to pay for her sister’s medical bills, triggered a second wave of bank “robberies” in Lebanon. Despite this, the […]
China’s War on Big Tech: The Triumph of Regulation?
The recent crackdown on China’s Big Tech has attracted significant international attention. In November 2020, Jack Ma, the founder of China’s prominent Alibaba Group, including its subsidiary the financial technology giant Ant Group, sharply criticized China’s banking regulation at a conference in Shanghai before Ant’s IPO. In his words, the “pawnshop mentality” of Chinese banking […]
COVID-19 and the Future of UBI: Interview with David Kim
Major crisis events have a way of transforming society. The Black Death, a bacterial plague that led to the deadliest pandemic in history during the 14th century, resulted in massive social upheaval. While the loss of life was horrid, the aftermath saw peasant laborers gain new rights and privileges in society and the decline of […]
Lights, Camera, Deregulation! Big Banks Get Their Big Break
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Tackling one of America’s most dire, pressing issues, Congress turned its attention in March away from passé, low-stakes issues like gun control and immigration to — you guessed it — banking reform. By May 22, the House passed the duplicitously-named Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA), a law that will roll back aspects of the […]
The Digital Gold
When I was very young, my parents always indulged me before bed with exotic folktales every night before sleep, coaxing me to sleep with stories of great adventure. Of all these stories, the one I found most fascinating was “Ali Baba and Forty Thieves.” “Open Sesame!” a magic word that opens the gate to measureless gold, […]
Eric Cantor or Eric “Can’t Win”?
It didn’t matter that David Brat was an unknown economics professor. It wasn’t enough that Eric Cantor had spent nearly $5.4 million on his campaign. And it certainly made no difference that Cantor branded himself as a preacher of the Republican Creed. On the evening of July 10, 2014, Eric Cantor made congressional history, becoming […]