Access to Financial Services in the 21st Century: Five Opportunities for the Bush Administration and the 107th Congress (Symposium on Poverty and the Law).

Authors

Michael S. Barr, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2002

Abstract

Noticeably absent from debate over President Bush's agenda is any discussion of a central question for equality of opportunity in the 21st century. Access to financial services is the "passport" to our modem economy, as former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers oft said, but despite the enormous progress that has been made over the last decade, too many families in the United States still are left out of the financial services mainstream. There are five key opportunities that the Bush Administration, working with Congress and the private sector, can seize in order to continue to democratize access to financial services: expand access to capital under the Community Reinvestment Act, invest in New Markets, combat predatory lending, bank the unbanked and build assets for the poor.

Recommended Citation

Barr, Michael S. (2001- ). "Access to Financial Services in the 21st Century: Five Opportunities for the Bush Administration and the 107th Congress (Symposium on Poverty and the Law)." Notre Dame J. L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y 16, no. 2 (2002): 447-73. (Originally published under the same title online at Cap. Xchange (2001).)