Mehrsa Baradaran on How COVID-19 is Exposing Existing Societal Wealth Gaps and Financial Access Challenges

Mehrsa Baradaran is a professor of law at the University of California Irvine and researches banking law, financial inclusion, inequality, and the racial wealth gap. Her scholarship includes the books, *How the Other Half Banks* and *The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap.* Mehrsa joins Macro Musings to talk about the impact of COVID-19 and how existing wealth conditions and financial access challenges are exacerbating the crisis. David and Mehrsa also discuss the historical context for the racial wealth gap, why banking deserts are so consequential, and how a postal savings system may be a solution to the financial inclusion problem.   Transcripts for the episode can be found here.   Mehrsa’s Twitter: @MehrsaBaradaran Mehrsa’s UCI profile: https://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/baradaran/   Related Links:   Link to bonus segment with Mehrsa: https://youtu.be/AcH3c89ZtKY   *How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy* by Mehrsa Baradaran https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674983960   *The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap* by Mehrsa Baradaran https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674237476   *The U.S. Should Just Send Checks – But Won’t* by Mehrsa Baradaran https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/the-us-should-just-write-checksbut-wont/609637/   *Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Designing an Equitable Financial System with Public Policy* by Mehrsa Baradaran https://rooseveltinstitute.org/rethinking-financial-inclusion-equitable-financial-system-public-policy/   *The Coronavirus Will Be a Catastrophe for the Poor* by Derek Thompson https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-will-supercharge-american-inequality/608419/   Link to Aaron Klein Macro Musings episode: https://macromusings.libsyn.com/aaron-klein-on-real-time-payments-and-financial-regulation   Link to *Mapping Inequality* from the Digital Scholar Lab at the University of Richmond: https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=5/40.464/-94.592   JPMorgan Research: *Racial Gaps in Financial Outcomes* https://institute.jpmorganchase.com/institute/research/household-income-spending/report-racial-gaps-in-financial-outcomes#finding-1   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth