Economics

Kevin Werbach of the Wharton School said Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange facing international arbitration, has unsustainable operation practices. “For cryptocurrencies to be trusted and successful as an asset class, they can't simply be outside the rule of law. Governments have laws to protect their citizens, and it doesn't make sense for entities to try to opt out of them, even if they have distributed operations and no clear headquarters,” he said.

When it comes to governments providing residents with basic income, Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice said, “Our fear that people will quit their jobs en masse if provided with cash for free is false and misguided.”

Mohamed A. El-Erian of the Wharton School wrote an opinion piece about the unintended effects of the Federal Reserve’s pandemic-era policies. “Continuing on this trajectory could inflict unnecessary damage on the economy in the next 12 months, fuel unsettling financial volatility, worsen already-high inequality, and derail Biden’s agenda,” he said.

Pilar Gonalons-Pons of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the challenges low-income people face in accessing the new child tax credit payments. “This has become a very big problem,” she said. “There’s controversy because the website is not phone-friendly. There’s been a deficiency in outreach, and it’s been left up to advocacy organizations to reach those who need the money.”

Susan Wachter of the Wharton School said the rate of unpaid mortgages is elevated at the moment, in part due to the pandemic. “For those who are unemployed, this is a serious problem,” she said. “Without a job, it is very difficult to pay off that mortgage.”