Clark Center Forum

Proponents of fiscal stimulus argue that targeted subsidies can spur consumers to shift purchases from well into the future to today, and thereby help jumpstart the economy. Opponents contend that while subsidies may induce purchases today, the effect is almost completely reversed when consumers subsequently purchase fewer goods tomorrow. We inform this debate by examining […] 

FT.com; June 2, 2010 Bankers must be heaving a sigh of relief as the shenanigans of the offshore drilling industry have pushed them to the edge of the radar screen of those targeting corporate greed. But it is unlikely their respite will be for long. Inquiries under way are bound to unearth more instances of ethically, and […] 

Squawk Box; May 28th, 2010 Univeristy of Chicago finance professor Eugene Fama, widely known as the “father of modern finance,” discusses whether the government is the biggest risk to economic recovery Watch interview> 

Christian Leuz and other members of the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee The recent G20 meetings demonstrated the substantial divide between policymakers over the right approach toward the “too-big-to-fail” problem for large, global financial institutions. Some policymakers accept that some financial firms will inevitably be too-big-to-fail and wish to focus policy efforts on facilitating orderly bailouts […] 

VoxEU US Congressional committees are now grilling bankers on the complex instruments that provided subprime mortgages with a veil of security. This column presents new evidence that subprime mortgages had more serious consequences – they were a key factor in the US housing-price boom. When house prices faltered, subprime mortgage holders defaulted en masse, eventually […] 

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are set to become the global accounting language. Empirical evidence suggests, however, that IFRS adoption alone will not lead to global convergence of reporting practices, and will not make comparing companies’ financial statements as easy as many have hoped. True convergence in reporting practices would require a much broader convergence […] 

Businessweek; April 1, 2010 The Dodd financial reform bill, which awaits the Senate after its two-week break, is loaded with good intentions. But does it do enough to keep banks from going out on a limb for profits? Read article> 

Oliver Hart and Luigi Zingales National Affairs, Spring 2010 The financial crisis of 2008 had many causes. They ranged from a housing bubble to excessive speculation, and from inadequate accounting rules to reckless corporate governance. But at the heart of the meltdown were the financial industry’s distorted incentives — created in large part by decades […] 

Testimony of Anil K Kashyap in “Examining the Link Between Fed Bank Supervision and Monetary Policy” before the House Financial Services Committee, United States House of Representatives – March 17, 2010 Read testimony> 

U.S. Monetary Policy Forum; New York, New York February 26, 2010 On Friday February 26, the IGM hosted its annual “U.S. Monetary Policy Forum” conference that featured a report on Financial Conditions Indices and a panel discussion on Financial Regulatory Reform.  The Panel was moderated by David Wessel of the Wall Street Journal and featured […]