Gerald Epstein is Professor of Economics and a founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University in 1981. Epstein has written articles on numerous topics including financial crisis and regulation, alternative approaches to central banking for employment generation and poverty reduction, economists’ ethics and capital account management and capital flows and the political economy of financial markets and institutions. Most recently his research has focused on the impacts of financialization (Gerald Epstein, ed. Financialization and the World Economy, Elgar Press, 2005), alternatives to inflation targeting (Gerald Epstein and Erinc Yeldan, eds. Beyond Inflation Targeting: Assessing the Impacts and Policy Alternatives, Elgar Press, 2009.) and financial reform, and the Great Financial Crisis (Martin Wolfson and Gerald Epstein, eds.) The Handbook of The Political Economy of Financial Crises, Oxford, 2013. He is writing a book in connection with an INET project on the social inefficiency of the current financial system and approaches to financial restructuring.

His book, Busting the Bankers’ Club: Finance for the Rest of Us, University of California Press will soon appear.

By this expert

The Financial Crisis of 2023: Protecting Big Finance, Coming and Going

Article | Mar 27, 2023

There needs to be a safe place for businesses to place their reserves and working capital

Is MMT “America First” Economics?

Article | Mar 20, 2019

Modern monetary theorists ignore how their policies could hurt developing countries

Did Quantitative Easing Increase Income Inequality?

Paper Working Paper Series | | Oct 2015

The impact of the post-meltdown Federal Reserve policy of ultra-low interest rates and Quantitative Easing (QE) on income and wealth inequality has become an important policy and political issue.

Have Large Scale Asset Purchases Increased Bank Profits?

Paper Working Paper Series | | Apr 2015

This paper empirically examines the effects of the Federal Reserve’s Large Scale Asset Purchases (LSAP) on bank profits.

Featuring this expert

Busting the Bankers' Club

Video | Jan 17, 2024

Finance for the Rest of Us

Global Inflation Today: What Is to Be Done?

PERI Conference, featuring INET Research Director Thomas Ferguson and INET Grantees

Event Conference | Dec 2–Nov 3, 2022

Emerging out of the COVID lockdown, inflation in the U.S. and globally has risen to the highest levels in 40 years. On December 2-3, PERI will host a conference to explore the causes of this global inflation spike. Conference participants will also provide critical perspectives on the austerity macroeconomic policies being implemented globally to control inflation and will propose alternative policies capable of managing inflation without imposing austerity and rising mass unemployment.

How the FED's QE Contributed to Inequality

Video | Aug 3, 2016

Epstein discusses financial reform, central banking, and how the FED actually contributed to economic inequality.

How Much Do Shady Financial Practices Cost You, Exactly?

Article | Jul 22, 2016

Average U.S. household loses over $100,000 to destructive activities of bankers and financiers