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TESS CROWLEY/Daily
After a night of record-breaking temperatures and snowfall, residents of Ann Arbor came together to adorn the wintry landscape with cheerful snowmen outside their residences.
President Joe Biden is expected
to nominate Michael Barr, dean
of the University of Michigan’s
Ford School of Public Policy, as
comptroller of the currency, a
role that involves regulation of
the banking industry. Following
the initial report from The
Wall
Street
Journal,
some
Democrats
are
disappointed
with the appointment, preferring
University
of
California-
Irvine law professor and more
progressive candidate Mehrsa
Baradaran over Barr.
As comptroller of the currency,
Barr would be in charge of
overseeing and regulating the
federal banking system, ensuring
banks operate in a safe manner
and setting the standards for
their activities in minority and
low-income areas.
Barr
previously
criticized
the
Trump
administration’s
handling of banking regulation,
such as a reduction in consumer
protection laws and the lack
of action taken to address the
COVID-19 pandemic, which have
had detrimental effects on banks.
Barr
worked
in
several
Treasury and State Department
roles
during
the
Clinton
administration and served as an
assistant secretary of the treasury
under the Obama administration.
Barr contributed to the 2010
Dodd-Frank Act, which changed
financial regulations to reduce
the economic impact of the 2008
Great Recession.
The Michigan Daily spoke
to some progressive University
of Michigan students to gauge
their thoughts on Barr’s likely
nomination.
Public Policy senior Kerrigan
McCabe believes that Barr’s
previous experience makes him
well fit for comptroller of the
currency.
“Barr has such a long history
working on economic regulations
and protecting consumers, so
I think he’s very well fit for
the job,” McCabe said. “Barr’s
appointment makes sense with
what the Biden administration
has promised voters about what
the economic landscape is going
to look like in the future.”
Recently,
Barr
served
as
an
adviser
to
the
Alliance
for Innovative Regulation, a
nonprofit representing financial
technology firms, which attempts
to merge financial regulation and
digital design.
Critics believe this position
should
disqualify
Barr
from
the
Biden
administration
appointment, as the position
would allow him to grant bank
charters to companies, including
firms the Alliance for Innovative
Regulation may have advised.
Public Policy junior Tuhin
Chakraborty said he supports
Barr’s possible appointment and
disagrees with critics who say his
financial technology experience
should disqualify him.
“Fintech
companies
are
rapidly coming into the future
of the banking and finance
industries, so Barr’s knowledge of
tech and future technology will
be invaluable to revolutionizing
the finance sector in the coming
years,” Chakraborty said. “It’s
easier to work with someone you
are familiar with. I’d say Barr’s
work with fintech is the exact
opposite of a disqualification.”
However, Public Policy junior
Alexander Zittleman, the action
co-chair of the Young Democratic
Socialists of America chapter
at the University, said he thinks
Barr should not be appointed to
the position.
“I think Barr’s experience with
fintech firms shows that he’s not
the right option,” Zittleman said.
“I don’t think it’s automatically
disqualifying, but there are other
candidates who don’t have that
experience and who aren’t liable
to having that as their main
priority.”
Baradaran,
the
other
candidate favored by some, has
previously
championed
racial
equity and closing the wealth
gap,
something
progressives
think would make her a good
choice for comptroller of the
currency.
Following
Biden’s
repeated
calls for unity — not only across
partisan lines but within the
Democratic
party
itself
—
many hoped progressives such
as
Baradaran
would
receive
appointments.
Public Policy junior Reuben
Glasser, resident and founder of
Michigan Political Consulting,
wrote in an email to The Daily he
believes Barr will also be able to
address the issues of racial equity
that Baradaran has promoted.
“While I strongly agree that
closing the racial wealth gap
should be one of the focuses
of our Banking Regulator, I’m
unsure how that disqualifies
Dean Barr,” Glasser wrote. “I
have strong faith he will do
everything in his power to work
with the administration and
Congress to do so, while also
doing a fantastic job on a plethora
of other issues.”
Recent Public Policy graduate
Brooke
Bacigal
agreed
with
Glasser, writing in a statement to
The Daily she hoped Barr would
prioritize addressing issues of
systemic injustice he frequently
spoke about as dean.
“In an email to the Ford
community this past summer
addressing racial violence and
police brutality he said ‘as policy
professionals, we must commit
ourselves to addressing these
public challenges, difficulties,
and
social
ills
directly,’”
Bacigal wrote. “Now with the
opportunity to do exactly that, I
hope that as Comptroller, Dean
Barr will prioritize addressing
the
systemic
barriers
that
have
perpetuated
racialized
economic inequality, strengthen
financial inclusion and banking
protections
for
minority
communities, and employ the
same
post-crisis
construction
of regulations as he did with his
work on Dodd-Frank, steering
the OCC.”
Historically, Barr has been
resistant to more progressive
limitations
on
the
industry
suggested by lawmakers, such as
a stricter version of the Volcker
Rule,
which
prevents
banks
from using depositors’ money for
certain investment activities and
limits their dealing with covered
funds.
After the election, in an email
to Public Policy students, Barr
congratulated Biden and Harris
on their win and emphasized the
importance of working across the
aisle.
“I also think it is fair to say,
that those who have worked
with President-elect Biden, from
across the political spectrum,
whether
or
not
they
agree
with him on policy or politics,
view him as a person of great
personal integrity, decency, and
compassion,” Barr wrote.
Chakraborty said he thinks
Barr’s
moderate
stance
will
allow for more legislation to be
passed, as Democrats only have
50 seats in the Senate — not
enough to pass legislation with
the filibuster-proof majority that
is often necessary.
“By no means (do Democrats)
have a mandate to push forth this
stronger, more progressive clause
of the Volcker Rule,” Chakraborty
said. “Barr will moderate policies
and make them more palatable
to both the GOP and Democrats
and will help more efficiently put
forth bipartisan solutions that
will be more feasible to turn into
law.”
On the other hand, Zittleman
said he believes Baradaran’s
progressive stance would bring
about more positive change.
“A lot of the things that
Baradaran supports are things
that would directly address issues
like racial and intergenerational
wealth
equality,”
Zittleman
said. “Is Biden unifying with
Republicans across the aisle
trying to come up with neoliberal
policy agendas that can work
for both sides, or is he trying to
combat white supremacy and
unify with this multicultural
tapestry that is America?”
But Glasser emphasized the
importance
of
bipartisanship
across party lines.
“Right now the country is in
a bit of disarray on every side, I
think the choice we, Americans,
made to elect Biden is a choice of
healing — in hopes both sides can
work together,” Glasser wrote.
“If Dean Barr is a result of trying
to cultivate more bipartisanship,
more conversation and better
results for America, I’m all with
it.”
Chakraborty
agreed
with
Glasser, stating that unification is
something Barr would promote.
“Being able to efficiently work
with both parties will produce
the most viable policy that has
the highest chances of becoming
law,” Chakraborty said. “It’s
political, uniting and efficient.”
Daily
Staff
Reporter
Kate
Weiland
can
be
reached
at
kmwblue@umich.edu.
Public Policy Dean Michael Barr’s likely
appointment opposed by progressives
Biden will reportedly nominate Ford School head as comptroller of the currency
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michael Barr, dean of the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy, is expected to be nominated as comptroller of the currency.
KATE WEILAND
Daily Staff Reporter
GOVERNMENT