Mehrsa Baradaran
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About Mehrsa
Baradaran's research focuses on banking law, financial inclusion, inequality, and the racial wealth gap. Baradaran's writings overarching themes include property, race, law and capitalism. Baradaran has advised U.S. Senators and Congressmen on policy, testified before the U.S. Congress, and spoken at national and international forums like the U.S. Treasury and the World Bank. Volunteer member of Biden Administration's Agency Review Team for the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury.
Contributions
No Jargon Podcast
In the News
Publications
Describes how the financial system is unequal and exclusionary even as it is supported, funded, and subsidized by public institutions. Argues this is not just a flaw in the financial sector; it is a foundational problem for democracy. Proposes a new model of financial inclusion, which situates issues of access and inclusion as central to the legal design of the financial system.
Pursues the persistence of this racial wealth gap by focusing on the generators of wealth in the black community: black banks. Challenges the myth that black communities could ever accumulate wealth in a segregated economy.
Contributes to the growing conversation on American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes: unequal credit. Examines how a significant portion of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover emergency expenses and pay for necessities—all thanks to deregulation that began in the 1970s and continues decades later.