Michigan Public Budgeting and Finance Planning class (PubPol 715) invites you to join them for a conversation with guest speaker Robert Widigan, former CFO for the City of Flint and incoming Chief Deputy CFO of Wayne County.
Professor Jeffery Zhang from Michigan Law will be speaking at our February blue bag lunch talk on Wednesday, February 1 at 12pm. The talk will be virtual on Zoom. Please register here by January 31.
Peter Adriaens discusses "The Transformational Role of Data for Democratized Digital Project Delivery" and how it relates to smart infrastructure finance.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
Conversations Across Differences
Inflation and labor market fluctuations are threatening the fragile economic recovery. Increasingly, Americans are worried about their financial future. Join Ford School economists for a discussion of these crucial issues.
Join us for an important discussion between University of Michigan Ford School Dean Michael Barr with Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, to discuss his work to revive the economy while combating the racist systems embedded within it.
Professor Nadya Malenko discusses her research regarding venture capital backed firms, which face neither the regulatory requirements nor a major separation of ownership and control of their public peers.
Public Policy and Institutional Discrimination Series,
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Lecture Series
The series is designed to foster dialogue on important issues of U.S. public policy. Faculty discussant Bill Bynum will focus on the role of policy to advance economic opportunity for disenfranchised populations.
Terri Friedline will discuss her book, Banking on a Revolution: Why Financial Technology Won’t Save a Broken System, which takes a critical look at advancements in financial technology (“fintech”) in the banking and financial industries.
Professor Gabriel Rauterberg explores how the public/private divide in U.S. securities markets interact and questions whether the current structure is socially optimal.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Lecture Series
Margaret Anadu, Global Head of Investment Banking Services at Goldman Sachs, will discuss how banks can help create opportunity for underserved communities, in conversation with Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence William Bynum.
This event will be virtual.
Ten years after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, and in the midst of an even more devastating economic and public health crisis, what are the risks to the financial system and the U.S. economy? This conference will explore whether the Act created an enduring structure to make the financial system fairer, safer, and better harnessed to the needs of the real economy. Panels will explore the policy choices made in the Dodd-Frank Act, DFA’s implementation over the decade, changes during the Trump Administration, current and potential risks to the financial system, debates over consumer protection, and the future of reform.
Sixty years ago, Congress established a federal pre-approval regime for bank mergers to protect consumers from then-unprecedented consolidation in the banking sector. This process worked well for several decades, but it has since atrophied, producing numerous “too big to fail” banks.
Professor Kress's research contends that regulators’ current approach to evaluating bank merger proposals is poorly suited for modern financial markets. Policymakers and scholars have traditionally focused on a single issue: whether a bank merger would reduce competition. Over the past two decades, however, changes in bank regulation and market structure—including the repeal of interstate banking restrictions and the emergence of nonbank financial service providers—have rendered bank antitrust analysis largely obsolete. As a result, regulators have rubber stamped recent bank mergers, despite evidence that such deals could harm consumers and destabilize financial markets.
Professor Kress's research asserts that contemporary bank merger analysis should instead emphasize statutory factors that regulators have long neglected: whether a proposed merger would increase systemic risks, enhance the public welfare, and strengthen the relevant institutions. Professor Kress's research urges regulators to modernize their approach, and it proposes a novel framework to ensure that bank merger oversight safeguards the financial system. The proposals contained herein have far-reaching implications not only for bank regulation but also for the ongoing debate over merger policy in technology, agriculture, and other industries.
Walter and Leonore Annenberg Auditorium, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Rich Cordray, founding director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Rohit Chopra, Commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission will keynote.
U. S. Department of the Treasury, Cash Room
Washington, DC
The U.S. Office of Financial Research and the University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law, and Policy will bring together regulators, policymakers, lawyers, economists, financial institutions, investors, financial technology companies, and experts on data science, cybersecurity, and finance.
The rebirth of Detroit is dependent on a multitude of factors including issues related to urban infrastructure, the revitalization of neighborhoods, and beyond. Critical to this rebirth is investment in the city. For the city administration, this investment means being able to collect sufficient tax revenues to turn on streetlights, police neighborhoods, replace infrastructure, and finance other projects. Unfortunately, one consequence of the challenges faced by the city has been a culture of non-payment of the taxes owed. Over the last three years, the Master of Accounting students at the Ross School of Business have worked closely with the city to help address these non-payment issues. This talk will describe the projects the students have worked on, the benefits to both the city and to the students, and the work that still needs to be done. We will be joined by the city’s Director of Audit and Compliance, Odell Bailey.
The panelists will discuss their work in helping to deliver capital to America’s communities, the growth and transformation of the industry, headwinds the field faces and what’s in store for the next 40 years of community development finance.