Date of Submission
Fall 2021
Academic Program
Economics
Project Advisor 1
Michael Martell
Abstract/Artist's Statement
Given America’s violently racist history, it should not come as a surprise that housing inequality still runs rampant in 21st century American cities. What may come as more of a surprise, however, is the true complexity of housing inequality and its broader implications. Housing inequality is not an independent phenomena and there are a multitude of structures which enable housing discrimination to interact with and perpetuate other forms of discrimination. Economically speaking, a public banking option in the U.S would serve as an effective tool to regulate household finance and chip away at the foundations of inequality. While there are currently only three small public banks in the United States today, this paper examines Congresswomen Alexandria Occasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib’s 2020 Public Banking Act proposal as a contemporary movement towards an inclusive financial system. Additionally, it outlines a model in which public banks could be positioned to economically address inequality and critically analyzes the impact of such a bank.
Open Access Agreement
Open Access
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Baylor, "The Structures that Bind: An Examination of Housing and Wealth Inequality in America and a Proposal for an Effective Economic Solution" (2021). Senior Projects Fall 2021. 25.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_f2021/25
This work is protected by a Creative Commons license. Any use not permitted under that license is prohibited.