The Pandemic Reveals Financial Sector’s Fragility

Art Wilmarth is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University Law School. In this episode, Art discusses his new paper “The Pandemic Crisis Shows that the World Remains Trapped in a 'Global Doom Loop' of Financial Instability, Rising Debt Levels, and Escalating Bailouts.” Art explains the consequences of the Federal Reserve’s backstop of the corporate bond market during the pandemic, what history tells us about the Fed’s ability to taper their quantitative easing program, and how the Fed’s support for shadow deposits like money market funds and commercial paper has fueled the rise of new shadow deposits like stablecoins.

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Howell Jackson and Morgan Ricks: “Locating Stablecoins within the Regulatory Perimeter”

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