As part of a roundtable panel discussion on "Reassessing Central Bank Independence," PERI Co-Director Gerald Epstein contributes a 2-part essay titled "Democratic Money: Central Bank Independence vs. Contested Control." In Part 1, Epstein addresses the "illusory nature" of the Federal Reserve as an independent policy-making force, due to its strong ties with Wall Street. In Part 2, Epstein argues that creating a more democratized Federal Reserve that is strongly accountable to the public as opposed to Wall Street "will ensure that the Fed operates more efficiently, more equitably, and serves the basic needs of the U.S. economy."

Sripad Motiram and Vamsi Vakulabharanam deploy a socio-spatial approach and use a spatially representative survey in Hyderabad and Mumbai to analyze the relation between city, space, and religion. They identify poor-ghettos and elite-enclaves in Hyderabad and Mumbai. In both cities, ghettos have a high proportion of Muslims, while enclaves are dominated by non-Muslim inhabitants. Ghettoization of Muslims is far more pronounced in Hyderabad than in Mumbai. A key finding on the relation between city space and religion is that compared to segregated neighborhoods, mixed (“grayer”) neighborhoods produce better economic outcomes like lower poverty.

Esteban Perez-Caldentey and Matais Vernengo analyze the relation between premature deindustrialization in Latin America with what they term ‘premature financialization.’ They define premature financialization as a turn to finance as a vehicle for accumulation before the process of industrialization has reached maturity. This contrasts with developed countries where financialization occurs after an advanced stage of economic and social development is reached, and where the growth of the financial sector, beyond a certain threshold, can be detrimental to economic activity. The paper examines the consequences of premature financialization for investment, growth, and financial stability.