New America Releases Behaviorally Informed Financial Services Regulation

A new approach to the way we write the rules for buying homes, getting credit cards and managing our finances is needed, one based on real-world human behavior, not just economic theory. Regulations governing these transactions can play an extremely constructive role if they are better attuned to both consumers' and producers' behavior, incentives and self-interest. On October 17, the Asset Building Program of the New America Foundation published a seminal paper on this timely topic by Professors Michael Barr of the University of Michigan Law School, Sendhil Mullainathan of Harvard University, and Eldar Shafir of Princeton University. Using the tools of behavioral economics, Professors Barr, Mullainathan and Shafir-- three of the nation's leaders in this field-- propose that regulators should pay attention to both the "rules of the game"--what a provider must do or say, and the "scoring"-the reward or penalty arising from obeying or ignoring the rules. Based on this novel framework, the authors propose ten innovative ideas for regulating mortgages, credit cards and bank accounts for saving. Behaviorally Informed Financial Services Regulation, the paper by Professors Barr, Mullainathan and Shafir, is available here. .

New America Releases The Assets Agenda

The purpose of this report is to outline a federal public policy agenda to broaden savings and asset ownership opportunities for lower-income Americans who have limited resources at their disposal. In developing our thinking on the subject, we have drawn on the research and expert analysis of many others in the field. The agenda we present here includes calls for new structures and policies at the federal level, as well as changes to existing tax systems, government programs, and financial products. Some of these policies are well developed, others need more seasoning, but all of them have the potential to contribute to the economic well-being of millions of American families. This edition of New America's Assets Agenda is the most comprehensive to date, with 84 innovative asset-building ideas.

The full report is available here.