Christine Desan is the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law. She teaches about the political economy of capitalism, the constitutional law of money, the international monetary system, constitutional history, and legal theory.

By this expert

The Fed, Congress, and the President: The Constitutional Authority to Make Money

Article | Apr 6, 2026

The struggle over the Federal Reserve is not just a dispute about central bank independence. It is a constitutional conflict over democratic sovereignty itself: in a representative system, the power to make money belongs first to the legislature, not the executive.

Democratic Sovereignty and the Prerogative to Make Money: The Case of the Federal Reserve

Paper Working Paper | | Mar 2026

As the Supreme Court’s unitary executive theory reaches the Federal Reserve, a deeper constitutional question comes into view: who holds the power to make money?