This pivotal analysis focuses on the Detroit metropolitan area's low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, which are similar to those of other Rust Belt communities. The Detroit Area Household Financial Services study—conducted at the height of the subprime lending boom—examines these households' decisionmaking processes, behaviors, and attitudes toward a full range of financial transactions.
No Slack reveals widespread problems in home mortgage lending, the common threads among people who file for bankruptcy, the reasons so many households are unbanked, and how behaviorally informed financial regulation can make the market work better. Drawing on his deep policy experience, Michael Barr advocates helping families seek financial stability in three primary ways: enhancing individuals' financial capability, using technology to promote access to financial products and services that meet their needs, and establishing strong protections for consumers.
Michael S. Barr is a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School and a nonresident senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. In 2009–10 he served as assistant secretary for financial institutions with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and he was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.