Finance
Do Treasury and the Fed Need a Relationship Reset?
On March 18, Prof. William English testified to a House task force considering a “new accord” between the Fed and Treasury, arguing that such an update is unnecessary and emphasizing the importance of Fed independence.
Lower-Income Employees Are More Likely to Remain at 401(k) Defaults, Even If It Costs Them Money
Automatically enrolling employees in retirement plans is a powerful tool for increasing savings. But Yale SOM’s James Choi and his coauthors find that once enrolled, people with lower incomes are more likely to remain at default contribution rates, even if they aren’t optimal.
Did Student Loan Forbearance Push Distressed Borrowers Further into Debt?
In a new study, Yale SOM’s Heather Tookes and her co-authors find that after loan forebearance went into effect in March 2020, distressed borrowers’ credit scores jumped. That allowed them to take on more credit card and auto debt—and, eventually, led to higher rates of delinquencies.
The Business of ‘Anti-Woke’ Is Falling Flat
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian write that the exchange-traded funds that boycott companies taking action on social issues are underperforming the market and struggling to find investors.
How Property Tax Foreclosure Accelerates Gentrification and Magnifies the Racial Wealth Gap
Non-white homeowners are at disproportionate risk of losing their homes over unpaid property taxes, shows new research from Yale SOM’s Cameron LaPoint.
Green Investing Could Push Polluters to Emit More Greenhouse Gases
One common approach to sustainable investing is to provide capital for companies with low carbon emissions and withhold it for high-emissions firms. Research co-authored by Yale SOM’s Kelly Shue shows this approach can backfire.
Why Connecticut’s Investments Are Underperforming
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian and their team found that Connecticut’s return on its pension fund investments is among the worst in the nation. Their analysis of all 50 states offers some avenues for improvement.
Personal Finance: Popular Authors vs. Economists
Before teaching a personal finance course, Prof. James Choi dipped into some popular books on the topic. He found that much of what personal finance gurus suggest is at odds with economic research—but that they also have insights into human nature that are sometimes missing from economic analyses.
The Fed’s Many-Headed Dilemma
According to Prof. William B. English, when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and sent ripples through the financial system, the Federal Reserve’s challenge of pursuing maximum employment and low inflation “got even harder.”
Is the Collapse of SVB the Start of a Banking Panic?
Silicon Valley Bank, a financial hub for tech startups, failed and was seized by regulators this week. Prof. Andrew Metrick, who has studied past financial crises, explains how SVB’s balance sheet got squeezed and what's next for the banking sector.
Business Prognosticators Keep Getting It Wrong
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld explains the mistakes that analysts and forecasters make while trying to predict the future.
