Peter Conti-Brown

Current Courses (Fall 2022)

• LGST6430 - Other People's Money

  We learn in introductory economics courses that money is fungible: that is, one dollar is as good as the next. Indeed, using money as a "medium of exchange" is one of its defining characteristics. But what happens when we take a big pile of money and put it in different buckets. On one bucket we might write "hedge fund"; on another, "central bank"; on still another, "payday lender." Then money starts to change in ways defined by law, history, ethics, and politics. This course will take you on a tour of these different buckets--different kinds of financial institutions, broadly defined--throughout the modern financial system. We will look at hedge funds, insurance companies, investment banks, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, consumer banks, payday lenders, state-sponsored enterprises (like the Export-Import Bank in the United States and much of the financial system in China), and the cutting edge of fintech, including crowd-funded lending, digital currencies, and more. In each case, students will be exposed to a series of specialized questions: Where did this institution come from? What problem is it trying to solve that other alternatives could not resolve? What is the basic business (or, where relevant, regulatory) model for each institution? How is each institution regulated, and by whom? What are the ethical considerations in each context? What are the political considerations that each market participant faces?

  LGST6430001 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

• BEPP8980 - Global Modular Course

  Global Modular Course - MBA

• LAW9990 - Independent Study Project

  Independent Study Project

• LGST1010 - Law and Social Values

  This course presents law as an evolving social institution, with special emphasis on the legal regulation of business in the context of social values. It considers basic concepts of law and legal process, in the U.S. and other legal systems, and introduces the fundamentals of rigorous legal analysis. An in-depth examination of contract law is included.

• LGST2230 - Securities Regulation

  The course examines the federal securities laws and the operation of the Securities Exchange Commission. The legal responsibilities of corporate managers, accountants, underwriters, and broker-dealers, occasioned by the securities regulatory scheme, will be investigated. Students will be encouraged to evaluate, from a managerial perspective, the various aspects of securities regulation studied. The course will discuss the recent financial crisis and ask the question whether enhanced securities regulation will prevent such a crisis in the future. The material covered in the course will provide familiarity with the basic legal structure of securities regulation and will assist in understanding the current policy issues in securities law. The course should help students to develop the ability to read and learn further in the field and to improve their effectiveness of communication with attorneys. It will also suggest ways of detecting instances in which an attorney should be consulted. The course is particularly useful for those students pursuing careers in corporate finance, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, sales and trading, venture capital, private equity, entrepreneurship, accounting, corporate management, and real estate.

• LGST2430 - Other People's Money

  We learn in introductory economics courses that money is fungible: that is, one dollar is as good as the next. Indeed, using money as a "medium of exchange" is one of its defining characteristics. But what happens when we take a big pile of money and put it in different buckets. On one bucket we might write "hedge fund"; on another, "central bank"; on still another, "payday lender." Then money starts to change in ways defined by law, history, ethics, and politics. This course will take you on a tour of these different buckets--different kinds of financial institutions, broadly defined--throughout the modern financial system. We will look at hedge funds, insurance companies, investment banks, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, consumer banks, payday lenders, state-sponsored enterprises (like the Export-Import Bank in the United States and much of the financial system in China), and the cutting edge of fintech, including crowd-funded lending, digital currencies, and more. In each case, students will be exposed to a series of specialized questions: Where did this institution come from? What problem is it trying to solve that other alternatives could not resolve? What is the basic business (or, where relevant, regulatory) model for each institution? How is each institution regulated, and by whom? What are the ethical considerations in each context? What are the political considerations that each market participant faces?

• LGST2990 - Seminar in Law & Society

  A study of the nature, functions, and limits of law as an agency of societal policy. Each semester an area of substantive law is studied for the purpose of examining the relationship between legal norms developed and developing in the area and societal problems and needs. Please see department for current offerings.

• LGST6110 - Resp in Global Mgmt

  This course uses the global business context to introduce students to important legal, ethical and cultural challenges they will face as business leaders. Cases and materials will address how business leaders, constrained by law and motivated to act responsibly in a global context, should analyze relevant variables to make wise decisions. Topics will include an introduction to the basic theoretical frameworks used in the analysis of ethical issues, such as right-based, consequentialist-based, and virtue-based reasoning, and conflicting interpretations of corporate responsibility. The course will include materials that introduce students to basic legal (common law vs. civil law) and normative (human rights) regimes at work in the global economy as well as sensitize them to the role of local cultural traditions in global business activity. Topics may also include such issues as comparative forms of corporate governance, bribery and corruption in global markets, human rights issues, diverse legal compliance systems, corporate responses to global poverty, global environmental responsibilities, and challenges arising when companies face conflicting ethical demands between home and local, host country mores. The pedagogy emphasizes globalized cases, exercises, and theoretical materials from the fields of legal studies, business ethics and social responsibility.

• LGST6120 - Responsibility in Bus.

  This course introduces students to important ethical and legal challenges they will face as leaders in business. The course materials will be useful to students preparing for managerial positions that are likely to place them in advisory and/or agency roles owing duties to employers, clients, suppliers, and customers. Although coverage will vary depending on instructor, the focus of the course will be on developing skills in ethical and legal analyses that can assist managers as they make both individual-level and firm-level decisions about the responsible courses of action when duties, loyalties, rules, norms, and interests are in conflict. For example, the rules of insider trading may form the basis for lessons in some sections. Group assignments, role-plays, and case studies may, at the instructor's discretion, be used to help illustrate the basic theoretical frameworks. Course materials will highlight industry codes and professional norms, as well as the importance of personal and/or religious values.

• LGST6430 - Other People's Money

  We learn in introductory economics courses that money is fungible: that is, one dollar is as good as the next. Indeed, using money as a "medium of exchange" is one of its defining characteristics. But what happens when we take a big pile of money and put it in different buckets. On one bucket we might write "hedge fund"; on another, "central bank"; on still another, "payday lender." Then money starts to change in ways defined by law, history, ethics, and politics. This course will take you on a tour of these different buckets--different kinds of financial institutions, broadly defined--throughout the modern financial system. We will look at hedge funds, insurance companies, investment banks, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, consumer banks, payday lenders, state-sponsored enterprises (like the Export-Import Bank in the United States and much of the financial system in China), and the cutting edge of fintech, including crowd-funded lending, digital currencies, and more. In each case, students will be exposed to a series of specialized questions: Where did this institution come from? What problem is it trying to solve that other alternatives could not resolve? What is the basic business (or, where relevant, regulatory) model for each institution? How is each institution regulated, and by whom? What are the ethical considerations in each context? What are the political considerations that each market participant faces?

• LGST7990 - Seminar in Law & Society

  A study of the nature, functions, and limits of law as an agency of societal policy. Each semester an area of substantive law is studied for the purpose of examining the relationship between legal norms developed and developing in the area and societal problems and needs.

• LGST8070 - Securities Regulation

  The course examines the federal securities law and the operation of the Securities Exchange Commission. The legal responsibilities of corporate managers, accountants, underwriters, and broker-dealers, occasioned by the securities regulatory scheme, will be investigated. Students will be encouraged to evaluate, from a managerial perspective, the various aspects of securities regulation studied. The course will discuss the recent financial crisis and ask the question whether enhanced securities regulation will prevent such a crisis in the future. The material covered in the course will provide familiarity with the basic legal structure of securities regulation and will assist in understanding the current policy issues in securities law. The course should help students to develop the ability to read and learn further in the field and to improve their effectiveness of communication with attorneys. It will also suggest ways of detecting instances in which an attorney should be consulted. The course is particularly useful for those students pursuing careers in corporate finance, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, sales and trading, venture capital, private equity, entrepreneurship, accounting, corporate management and real estate. Requirements: Midterm and final exam. Materials: Text, pamphlet of statutes and rules, and study guide.

• LGST8130 - Leg Asp Entreprenrshp

  Legal and Transactional Aspects of Entrepreneurship is a practical and intensive course that examines the critical legal and transactional issues confronting start-up and emerging growth companies. Although the context of the course is early stage companies, many of the concepts studied are equally applicable to more mature, established companies. The course provides perspective on how to use the law strategically to manage risk, deploy resources and maximize shareholder value. Topics include the enforceability of confidentiality, non-competition and other restrictive covenants in employment agreements; choice of business form including the legal, financial and tax advantages and disadvantages of general partnerships, limited partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies; tax and securities law; legal aspects of raising capital including structuring venture capital and private equity financing; entrepreneurial acquisition structures, employment law, and intellectual property law including trade secrets, copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Format: Lecture and discussion with coverage of legal cases and materials. Requirements: Class participation, midterm and final exam. Materials: Course pack.

• LGST8300 - Soc Imp & Responsibility

  What role can business play in helping to meet global societal needs, whether it involves the environment, improving health, expanding education or eradicating poverty? Is there any responsibility on the part of business to help meet those needs? What are models of successful business engagement in this area? How should success be measured? Are there limits to what businesses can and should do, and what institutional changes will enable businesses and entrepreneurs to better succeed? This survey course provides students the opportunity to engage in the critical analysis of these and other questions that lie at the foundation of social impact and responsibility as an area of study. The course involves case studies, conceptual issues, and talks by practitioners. The course is designed to help students develop a framework to address the question: "How should business enterprises and business thinking be engaged to improve society in areas not always associated with business?"

• Wharton Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 2017
• Stephen M. Kellen Term Member, Council on Foreign Relations, 2015-2020
• John R. Irwin Fellowship, Princeton University, Department of History, 2014-2015
• Junior Faculty Scholarship Prize, GW Law School Center for Law, Economics, and Finance, 2013

• Why the Fed decided to be transparent, Marketplace - 07/30/2019
• The Economy Looks Solid, but the Fed Plans to Cut Rates Anyway. Here’s Why, The New York Times - 07/19/2019
• Commentary on ‘Presidents, politics, and the Federal Reserve Board governors: Is there a new PhD standard?’, American Enterprise Institute - 07/16/2019
• The Finance 202: Republicans check Trump on Powell attacks, The Washington Post - 07/12/2019
• Fed exempts 17 banks from stress tests this year, Marketplace - 06/21/2019
• Can fintech increase lending? How courts are undermining financial inclusion, Brookings - 04/16/2019
• Is the Fed’s Independence on the Line?, Knowledge@Wharton - 04/11/2019
• How the Fed’s Wait-and-see Stance Helps the Markets, Knowledge@Wharton - 02/05/2019
• The Finance 202: Trump is bullying Powell to lower interest rates. It might have the reverse effect, The Washington Post - 01/01/2019
• The Quarles Quarrel Hurts the Fed, Wall Street Journal - 11/09/2018
• All the Ways Trump Can (and Can’t) Influence the Fed, Bloomberg - 10/24/2018
• Fed dưới áp lực chính trị, Vietnambiz - 10/18/2018
• Stocks swooning, Trump takes it out on the Fed, The Seattle Times - 10/11/2018
• Sam Halabi on International Intellectual Property Shelters, Patentlyo - 10/08/2018
• Conspiracy Theories and the Fed, Bloomberg - 10/02/2018
• High Incomes, Low Incomes and Trust Experiments, Bloomberg - 09/27/2018
• Bank Suite Could Complicate the Fed’s Rate Policy, The Wall Street Journal - 09/26/2018
• Big-Money, Low-Profile Asset Management, Bloomberg - 09/24/2018
• The Fight to Protect the Fed From Trump’s Rate-Hike Barbs, Bloomberg Businessweek - 09/20/2018
• How the Great Recession Changed American Workers, Knowledge@Wharton - 09/10/2018
• Real Time Economics: Record Bull Market | Auto Tariffs | Chinese Savers, The Wall Street Journal - 08/22/2018
• Cannabis Conundrums, The Regulatory Review - 08/02/2018
• FOMC Meeting Commences, Kitco - 08/01/2018
• Donalds Trump Is Pissed Off at the Fed Chair for Basically Coherent Reasons, Slate - 07/29/2018
• Trump vs. the Fed, The Week - 07/29/2018
• Trump tries a Nixonian move, but lacks Nixon’s skill, The Economist - 07/28/2018
• Juncker’s big day, Politico - 07/25/2018
• When Presidents Bully the Fed, Watch Out, Bloomberg - 07/23/2018
• Op-ed: “The Fed’s Job Isn’t To Make Trump Happy”, Wall Street Journal - 07/22/2018
• Wharton Fed Historian Says Trump’s Criticism of Rate Hikes Is Risky, Bloomberg - 07/19/2018
• Senate Confirms Randal Quarles to 14-Year Term on Fed Board, The Wall Street Journal - 07/17/2018
• Is an Apology an Effective Marketing Campaign?, Knowledge@Wharton - 06/28/2018
• ‘Unelected Power’ Review: Monetary Mavericks, The Wall Street Journal - 06/27/2018
• An expert at Trump’s alma mater sees an obvious starting point for an eventual war on the Federal Reserve, Business Insider - 06/13/2018
• Why the next big bank shouldn’t be the USPS, Brookings - 05/31/2018
• Bags of Cash and Stealthy Deliveries: How Pot Start-Ups Pay Taxes, The New York Times - 05/18/2018
• Exclusive: CFPB’S Leandra English Prepared Legal Case Against Trump on Government Time, Sources Say, The Daily Caller News Foundation - 04/12/2018
• NY Fed Criticized in Likely Pick of John Williams as Leader, The Wall Street Journal - 03/28/2018
• Trump will perpetuate bailouts by signing bank reform bill, The Hill - 03/16/2018
• The Pot Paradox: Can the U.S. Fix Its Conflicting Policies?, Knowledge@Wharton - 03/02/2018
• Will the U.S. Economy’s Period of Stability Continue?, Knowledge@Wharton - 02/26/2018
• Why 2018 Is Shaping Up to Be a Good Year for Banks, Knowledge@Wharton - 01/25/2018
• The Fed’s surprise move 10 years ago set the tone for its crisis response, Marketplace - 01/23/2018
• What Will Waivers for Convicted Banks Mean for the Financial System?, Knowledge@Wharton - 01/16/2018
• Op-ed: “Too Many Empty Chairs at the Federal Reserve”, Wall Street Journal - 10/04/2017
• Quoted in ” Fifty percent of Penn students may have had private information leaked in a cyber attack”, The Daily Pennsylvanian - 09/20/2017
• Quoted in “How Will Trump Reshape the Federal Reserve?”, ValueWalk - 09/11/2017
• Quoted in: “New revelations may send Wells Fargo, regulators back to negotiating table”, MarketWatch - 09/01/2017
• Op-ed: “Why Wells Fargo Might Not Survive Its Fake Accounts Scandal”, Fortune - 08/31/2017
• Op-ed: “Three reasons why Trump must reappoint Janet Yellen”, Philadelphia Inquirer - 08/25/2017
• Quoted in: “Wells Fargo’s New Chairman Elizabeth Duke Knows Crises”, Wall Street Journal - 08/15/2017
• Quoted in “Wells Fargo names female chairman, a first for a top US bank”, CNN - 08/15/2017
• Quoted in “Who will be the next chair of the Federal Reserve?”, The Economist - 08/10/2017
• Quoted in: “Is the Fed’s community banker seat worth the trouble?”, American Banker - 08/02/2017
• Quoted in “Nobody Really Knows What the Fed Does, But They Think It’s Bad”, NBC News - 07/25/2017
• Quoted in: “Fed’s Kaplan Says Chair Must Command Respect as Economic Analyst”, Bloomberg - 07/14/2017
• Quoted in: “Wall Street Weighs Prospect of One of Its Own as Fed Chair”, TheStreet - 07/12/2017
• Quoted in: “GC Pick Shows Fed’s Limited Desire for Dodd-Frank Changes”, Law360 - 07/06/2017
• Quoted in: “A Mystery Fed Candidate Won a Seat at the FOMC Table, Then Walked Away”, Bloomberg - 06/27/2017
• Quoted in: “Trump Walks Tightrope on the Federal Reserve”, TheStreet - 06/25/2017
• Quoted in: “Trump is ready to go to bat for big banks—but Yellen still has an ace up her sleeve”, Quartz - 06/20/2017
• Quoted in: “Wall Street Veteran Leads Search for Next Fed Chief”, Wall Street Journal - 06/13/2017
• Cited in: “A President at War With His Fed Chief, 5 Decades Before Trump”, The New York Times - 06/13/2017
• Quoted in: ” A FEDERAL RESERVE BANK IGNORED INSIDER TRADING INVESTIGATION WHEN RE-APPOINTING ITS PRESIDENT”, The Intercept - 04/07/2017
• Quoted in: “Fed’s Lacker Resigns Over Leak, Dealing Blow to Bank’s Credibility”, Wall Street Journal - 04/04/2017
• Quoted in “Fed Leak Probe Dooms Lacker But Leaves Key Question: Who Leaked?”, Bloomberg - 04/04/2017
• Quoted in: “The Boston guy who helped avert economic disaster is leaving the Fed”, Boston Globe - 03/31/2017
• Quoted in “Edge or Liability? White House Ties May Cut Two Ways for Goldman”, The New York Times - 03/16/2017
• “Trump wants to dismantle Dodd-Frank. Could he make it happen?”, Philadelphia Inquirer - 02/24/2017
• Op-Ed: The Most Powerful Man in Washington You’ve Never Heard Of, Wall Street Journal - 02/17/2017
• Fed’s Tarullo Stepping Down as Top Regulator of Wall Street, Bloomberg - 02/10/2017
• Markets need to find vigilance in era of Trump populism, Financial Times - 01/27/2017
• Book review: The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve, CFA Institute - 01/04/2017
• Tweeter-in-chief Trump faces test after Yellen’s rate decision, Chicago Tribune - 12/13/2016
• Interviewed on the Fed during the presidential election, The Atlantic - 11/02/2016
• Interviewed on big bank profits, Marketplace - 10/19/2016
• Op-ed on Donald Trump and the Fed, Fortune - 10/06/2016
• Op-ed on bank supervision and Wells Fargo, Law360 - 10/04/2016
• Quoted on Wells Fargo and small business loans, Reuters - 10/04/2016
• Quoted on political attacks on the Fed, New York Times - 09/28/2016
• Interviewed on Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve, Wall Street Journal - 09/21/2016
• Quoted on political attacks on the Fed, Bloomberg - 09/19/2016
• book highlighted in “Four Ways to Reform the Fed”, Bloomberg View - 08/30/2016
• book highlighted in “It’s going to be one heck of an election year, folks”, Financial Times - 08/23/2016
• book review, “Peter Conti-Brown on the Fed”, Seeking Alpha - 07/24/2016
• Let these books kick off your summer economics education with style, substance, Financial Post - 07/02/2016
• interviewed in Marketplace on interest rates, NPR-Marketplace - 06/15/2016
• book reviewed, Financial Times - 06/15/2016
• cited in The Economist, The Economist - 06/09/2016
• book review, R Street - 06/09/2016
• cited in Wall Street Journal article, Wall Street Journal - 05/31/2016
• quoted in article on Sen. Sanders’s plan for Puerto Rico, Think Progress - 05/20/2016
• book reviewed by Abu Dhabi newspaper, The National - 04/07/2016
• book reviewed at online symposium, Yale Journal on Regulation - 04/04/2016
• TV interview on Fed independence, Yahoo! Finance - 03/14/2016
• Podcast on Fed independence, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/07/2016
• Book review of The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve, Wall Street Journal - 03/04/2016
• Interviewed on Sen. Sanders’s Wall Street reform proposals, Daily Pennsylvanian - 02/26/2016
• Quoted in news article about the Fed and the marijuana industry, Sacramento Bee - 02/13/2016
• Radio interview on dark pools and high frequency trading, Knowledge @ Wharton - 02/12/2016
• Interviewed on legal challenges to negative interest rates, Wall Street Journal - 02/10/2016
• Quoted on problems facing the Fed, International Business Times - 01/22/2016
• Radio interview on Fed interest rates, CBS Radio - 12/16/2015
• Op-ed on Federal Reserve governance, Fortune Magazine - 12/16/2015
• Newspaper interview on Fed interest rates, Philadelphia Inquirer - 12/16/2015
• News interview on Fed interest rates, International Business Times - 12/16/2015
• Op-ed on Bank Profits and Monetary Policy, Fortune - 11/15/2015
• Research Profiled in Knowledge@Wharton, Knowledge@Wharton - 11/05/2015
• Interviewed on Marketplace regarding Fed messaging, NPR/Marketplace - 10/28/2015
• Quoted on lawsuit against Fed to permit marijuana bank, Associated Press - 10/22/2015
• Quoted on Fed interest rate hikes, American Banker - 09/18/2015
• Television interview on Fed rate hikes, CCTV-America - 09/17/2015
• Quoted on Bank of America’s corporate governance, Wall Street Journal - 08/19/2015
• Quoted on new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Bloomberg News - 08/18/2015
• Quoted on Banking Issues in the Marijuana Industry, The New York Times - 07/30/2015
• Op-Ed on Reforming the Federal Reserve, The New York Times - 07/29/2015
• Research cited on governance of Federal Reserve, Reuters - 07/02/2015

Knowledge at Wharton

• Why the Fed Is Walking an Inflation-recession Tightrope, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/2/2022
• How Far Could the Fed Go in Responding to COVID-19?, Knowledge at Wharton - 3/23/2020
• Are Negative Interest Rates on the Way in the U.S.?, Knowledge at Wharton - 9/17/2019
• Why the Fed Has a Hidden Influence on Foreign Affairs, Knowledge at Wharton - 5/24/2019
• Is the Fed’s Independence on the Line?, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/11/2019
• How the Law Can Boost Recession Recovery, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/10/2019
• How the Fed’s Wait-and-see Stance Helps the Markets, Knowledge at Wharton - 2/5/2019
• How the Great Recession Changed American Workers, Knowledge at Wharton - 9/10/2018
• Is an Apology an Effective Marketing Campaign?, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/28/2018
• The Pot Paradox: Can the U.S. Fix Its Conflicting Policies?, Knowledge at Wharton - 3/2/2018

Wharton Stories

• The More Than Ever Tour Brings the Classroom Experience to Alumni, Wharton Stories - 01/30/2019
• Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists Celebrates 50 Years Offering Faculty Insights to Media, Wharton Stories - 06/29/2018