Rethinking Finance
Channel: ModernMoneyNetwork
Date: 13/03/2018

Video of Cornell Law Professors Robert Hockett and Saule Omarova speaking at Harvard Law School (Please note that the video quality improves substantially around the 5 minute mark.)

The financial system is often thought of as a mechanism for intermediating or multiplying private savings. On this view, the government, if it appears at all, is merely a background actor providing the laws and regulations that set the rules of the game.  Hockett and Omarova challenge these assumptions not only during times of financial crisis, but also in the day to day operation of the financial system in “normal times.” They argue that the government is more accurately seen as the franchisor of the financial system that both makes possible its existence and actively participates in markets. Drawing upon these insights and the vision of Alexander Hamilton, they call for the government to take on a more robust role in economic development and market stabilization.

For background, see their papers “The Finance Franchise,” “Public Actors in Private Markets,” and "Private Wealth and Public Goods: A Case for a National Investment Authority"

http://cornelllawreview.org/files/2017/08/HockettOmarovafinal.pdf
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2572635
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2939309