Torches and Pitchforks

About this Episode

Law and banking in one podcast. Take deep breaths lest your racing heart burst in your chest. You think I'm joking. Probably because you don't know Mehrsa Baradaran. But then, you probably do, because everyone does. We talk about, among other things, how one should say “Mehrsa,” what banking is, It’s a Wonderful Life, how banks are subsidized and regulated, how 40 percent of the country doesn’t really bank or at least “underbanks,” and payday lenders. Christian does not call Joe “Adam Smith.” Mehrsa defends banking at the post office (dubbed by one banking industry exec “the worst idea since the Ford Edsel”). From the bank bailouts to moral hazard to the the precarious financial position of the working poor, we cover a lot of ground. And, naturally, speed traps. (Update 11/24/2018: Christian here. A listener got in touch with some very thoughtful criticism of our discussion during the intro. Talking about a gendered list, I casually raised switching genders to get on this list, in a way that the listener perceived as making a joke of transgender people. It pains me that this discussion would hurt anyone. I’m very sorry. Although it has been a long time since this conversation, I know my intent was to poke a little fun at the gendered nature of the list, though I winced at my ham-fisted mention of reassignment surgery. I hope it’s a sign of progress that I don’t believe the conversation would be the same today as it was then. But we feel strongly that retroactively editing the show should be reserved for truly exceptional situations, not to save face.)

This show’s links:

• Mehrsa Baradaran's faculty profile and writings
• The 100 Coolest Mormon Women Alive Today
• Mehrsa Baradaran, The Post Office Banks on the Poor (New York Times Op-Ed)
• Mehrsa Baradaran, Banking and the Social Contract
• The bank run in It’s a Wonderful Life
• About the FDIC
• Angelo Young, It’s Bankers vs. Wal-Mart in Push to Force Financial Regulation upon the World’s Largest Retailer
• Jefferson and Madison’s opposition to centralized banking
• Louis Brandeis, Other People’s Money
• Andrew G Haldane, The Dog and the Frisbee
• Mehrsa Baradaran, It's Time for Postal Banking
• Stephen Wexler, Practicing Law for Poor People
• Oral Argument Episode 8: Party All Over the World
• City of Warrensville Heights v. Wason