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I'm delighted @WSJ is running an Exclusive on my research today. Regulatory agencies create rules of the road for America's capitalist system. But only 10 Blacks have served since 1933. @SherrodBrown @MikeCrapo @SenSchumer @JoyAnnReid https://www.wsj.com/articles/black-regulators-rarely-appointed-to-oversee-wall-street-11595372699?mod=hp_listb_pos1
It's not a question of qualifications for overseeing Wall Street. My data show that since 1985 African American appointees have had more education than their White counterparts, not less. @CapehartJ @RepMaxineWaters @TheRoot
There's never been a Black Chairman of the Fed, FDIC, SEC, CFTC, Comptroller of the Currency, or Director of the CFPB. And much, much more. @rooseveltinst @JointCenter @BetterMarkets @AmerBanker
This is a bipartisan failure, Republican and Democrat (and yes, Progressive as well). As a result, African Americans aren't "in the room when it happens" depriving Blacks of any representation in decisions impacting well over $70 trillion in the economy. @NatUrbanLeague @jbouie
And it's bled into our conversation for White nominees to regulatory positions as well. I'm struck that in hours of questions to our nominees to the Fed and SEC, there was not one question about the racial wealth or income gaps and what our agencies can do about it.
This is in large part because financial regulation is often viewed as being race neutral. Not class neutral (that will always have plenty of debate). But our leaders fail to think about how even facially neutral laws and regulations can have outsized impacts for people of color.
Meanwhile, when new regulators choose personnel, without having received Senate questions or instructions about race, they assemble policy staffs that usually don't include African Americans. This goes for Democratic regulators as well as Republicans. @SenSherrodBrown @ewarren
In the end, this creates enormous challenges from the standpoint of participatory democracy, and economic inclusion. For more data on the staggering historical and current numbers, my study is here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3656772.
