New York University
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Wealth and Inequality: Asset Development and Poverty Reduction Policies in the U.S.
Fall 2015, Wednesday 6:45 – 8:35 Silver, Room 621
Instructor: Caitlyn Brazill
Course Description: Financial assets underpin the economic fabric of the U.S.
Households’ ability to accumulate wealth is a function of income, intergenerational
wealth transfer, private financial products and services, and public policy. This course
will examine how the accumulation of such assets - namely land, homes, investments –
is and should be stimulated and shaped by government intervention. From tax policy to
banking regulation, poverty alleviation programs to anti-discrimination laws, the U.S.
government has historically played a critical role in promoting wealth among some
groups and excluding others from such privilege.
The course will review new strategies supported by foundations, community
practitioners, financial institutions and policymakers for expanding this country’s
wealth-formation vehicles – such as individual development accounts and life-long
savings accounts. At the same time, the course will consider how effective public policy
must understand the factors undermining asset formation such as predatory lending,
consumer psychology and financial product availability. The course, which is
participatory and interactive, will conclude with students conceptualizing their own
assets policies.
Prerequisites: MPA students have completed Intro to Public Policy and Microeconomics;
planning students have completed Urban Economics.
General Instructions:
 Instructor access: Students should not hesitate to request appointments as 
needed (via email or phone):
caitlyn.brazill@gmail.com or 718-287-2600 ext 20305 
 Learning community: Students are encouraged to collaborate and to share
relevant information directly with each other, regarding, for example, articles or
seminars related to the subject matter. 
 Adherence to University Policy: students are expected to be intimately familiar
with and to abide by Wagner's Academic Honesty Policy, Grading Guidelines and
Incomplete Policy. 
 Grading: Grading is designed to ensure learning and assessment throughout the
course. Assignments should be uploaded to NYU classes before the class they are
due. Late assignments will not be accepted. Please include your name on all
assignments. Final assignments should include both names and the mailbox
numbers of both authors. 
Written assignments should be concise, and will be graded on content and effective
writing style. Students should review closely the instructor’s “writing tips” on
Blackboard.
Assignments are graded as follows. Please see “Assignments” on NYU Classes for a full
description of each assignment.
 Responses: 30% (6 at 5% each)
o Reading responses: 3-5 questions, reactions and/or discussion points
based on the readings should be posted on NYU Classes by 5:00pm the
night before class (Tuesdays). Only responses posted before this time
will be given credit. Responses should demonstrate a thoughtful analysis
of the readings, and may include links to relevant articles or other
resources. Partial credit will be awarded to responses that exclusively
summarize reading content.
 Reflections: 30% (2 at 15% each)
 Reflections: Reflections should be 2-3 pages of single-spaced prose. 
 Final Assignment: 30%
 A 5-7 page single-spaced memo due at the final class. 
 Final Presentation: 10% 
 A 3-5 minute presentation given during the final class.

Required Books:
• Blank, Rebecca and Michael Barr. (2009) Insufficient Funds: Savings, Assets, Credit,
and Banking Among Low-Income Households. Russell Sage Foundation.
• Sherraden, Michael. (2005) Inclusion in the American Dream: Assets, Poverty and
Policy. Oxford University Press.
• Additional weekly readings in links below or posted to NYU Classes. 
(Approximately 75-125 pages of reading per week.) 
Week 1 (9-2-15): Course overview and discussion/exercise to elicit students’
perceptions regarding financial assets and the underlying causes of wealth and poverty.
We will discuss why assets matter, and the policy levers that affect household’s
likelihood of building and maintaining assets. 

Reading: 
 Blank and Barr:
 Barr and Blank, “Savings, Assets, Credit and Banking Among Low Income
Households: Introduction and Overview.” (1-25)
 Sherraden:
o Sherraden, “Assets and Public Policy.” (3-19)
o Midgley, “Asset-based Policy in Historical and International
Perspective.”(42-60)
Havemann and Wolff, “Who are the Asset Poor? Levels, Trends, and
Composition, 1983-1998.” (61-86, 3-19)
“Treading Water in the Deep End.” Center for Enterprise Development. 2014.
Available at:
http://assetsandopportunity.org/assets/pdf/2014_Scorecard_Report.pdf
o
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Week 2 (9-7-15): “The American Dream” – We will look at historical developments in
home ownership and mortgage lending policies, and discuss how the application of
these policies affects economic mobility for various subgroups, such as racial minorities,
women and immigrants.
Reading:
 Blank and Barr
o Bostic and Lee, “Homeownership: America’s Dream?” (218-257)
 Sherraden
o Shapiro and Johnson, “Family Assets and School Access: Race and Class in
the Structuring of Educational Opportunity.” (112-127)
o Shanks, “The Homestead Act: A Major Asset-Building Policy in American
History.”(20-41)
 Rugh and Massey. (2012) “Racial Segregation and the American Homeownership
Crisis.” American Sociological Review. (uploaded in resources)
 Levin, Greer and Rademacher. (2014) “From Upside Down to Rightside Up:
Redeploying $540 Billion in Federal Spending to Help All Families Save, Invest
and Build Wealth.” CFED. Available at:
http://cfed.org/assets/pdfs/Upside%20Down.pdf
 Collins. (2013) “Developing Effective Subsidy Mechanisms for Low-Income
Homeownership.” Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University. Avail at:
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/hbtl-08.pdf
Reflection 1 DUE
Week 3 (9-16-15): “Financial Services and the Poor: Why Do Low Income Americans Pay
More?” We will examine the financial services costs faced by low income Americans,
and market-based and government strategies to change consumer behavior and
enhance asset building.
Reading:
 Barr and Blank:
 Barr, “Financial Services, Saving and Borrowing Among Low and
Moderate-Income Households: Evidence from the Detroit Area
Household Financial Services Study.” (66-96)
 Schneider and Longjohn. (2014)“Beyond Check-Cashing: An examination of
consumer demand and business innovation for immediate access to check
funds.” Center for Financial Services Innovation. Available at:
http://www.cfsinnovation.com/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=bea17b32-b3c84fbc-8d24-e55b8900dba6
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U.S. Department of the Treasury. (2011) Banking on Opportunity: A Scan of the
Evolving Field of Bank On Initiatives.” (Pg 1-39) Available at:
http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/institute-for-youth-education-andfamilies/family-economic-success/financial-empowerment/banking-onopportunity-a-scan-of-the-evolving-field-of-bank-on-initiatives
Choi. (2013) “From Cashing Checks to Building Assets: A Case Study of the Check
Cashing/Credit Union Hybrid Service Model.” Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco. Available at: http://www.frbsf.org/communitydevelopment/publications/working-papers/2013/january/check-cashing-creditunion-hybrid-service-model-case-study/
Mordoch and Schneider, “Spikes and Dips: How Income Uncertainty Affects
Households.” FAI and Center for Financial Services Innovation. 2014.
Available at:
http://www.usfinancialdiaries.org/sites/default/files/publications/Uncertainty_1
2.2%20for%20web%20print.pdf
Sevon, Lisa. “RiteCheck 12.” Public Books, 2013. Available at:
http://www.publicbooks.org/nonfiction/ritecheck-12
Week 4 (9-23-15): “Simplicity or Smarts” – We will discuss behavioral economic theories
and “nudge” strategies to encourage financial behaviors, and compare these to financial
education approaches to change behaviors.
Reading:
 Blank and Barr:
o Mullainathan and Shafir, “Saving Policy and Decision-making in LowIncome Households.”(121-145)
 U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (2015)“Financial Well-being: The
goal of Financial Education.” Available at:
http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201501_cfpb_report_financial-well-being.pdf
 Miller et. al. (2014). “Can You Help Someone be Financially Capable? A
Metaanlsyis of the Literature.” World Bank. Available at:
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/16833/WPS674
5.pdf?sequence=1
 Thaler, R. and S. Benzarti. (2004) “Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral
Economics to Increase Employee Saving.” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 112,
No. 1. Available at:
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/richard.thaler/research/pdf/smartjpe.pdf
 Weidrich et. al., “Financial Education and Account Access Among Elementary
Students.” CFED. 2014. Available at:
http://cfed.org/assets/pdfs/AFCO_youth_brief.pdf
Optional
 Lusardi, A. (2007). “Household Savings Behavior in the United States: The Role of
Literacy, Information, and Financial Education Programs.” In Policymaking
Insights from Behavioral Economics, Eds. Foote, C., L. Goette and S. Meier.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA. Available at:
https://www.bostonfed.org/economic/conf/BehavioralPolicy2007/chapter3.pdf
Week (9-30-15): “Saving Policy and Innovation” – We will look at how retirement
savings has shifted risk from institutions (employers and government) to individuals, and
discuss current proposals to better prepare American’s for retirement.
Reading:
 Sherraden: (241-280)
 Freidman and Boshara, “Going to Scale: Principles and Policy Options for an
Inclusive Asset-Building Policy.”
 Orzag and Greenstein, “Toward Progressive Pensions: A Summary of U.S.
Pension System and Proposals for Reform.” (262-280)
 Grinstein-Weiss, M. et. al. (2011) “Ten-Year Impacts of Individual Development
Accounts on Homeownership: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment.”
Brookings Institution Working Paper. Available at:
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2011/3/04%20home
ownership%20gale/0304_homeownership_gale
 Cramer, Black and King. (2014). “Children’s Savings Accounts: Research, Practice,
and Implications for Policy Design.” New America Foundation. Available at:
https://static.newamerica.org/attachments/1657-childrens-savingsaccounts/CSAEvidenceImplicationsFINAL6_14.pdf
 Azurdia et. al. “Encouraging Low and Moderate Income Tax Filers to Save:
Implementation and Interim Impact Findings from the SaveUSA Evaluation.”
MDRC. 2014. Available at:
http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/SaveUSA_report_1.pdf
(Executive summary required; full report optional)
Optional
- Duflo and Saez, “The Role of Information and Social Interactions in Retirement
Plan Decisions: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment.” The Quarterly Journal
of Economics, 2003. Available at: http://economics.mit.edu/files/746
Reflection 2 DUE: Design Your Own Financial Product
Final Assignment: Submit policy proposals to instructor for approval.
Week 6 (10-7-15): “Debt: Asset Building Capital to Predatory Loans” – We will examine
how credit, which is often a productive prerequisite for asset-building, can instead lead
to asset depletion. We will discuss short-term credit products such as payday loans or
auto title loans, and policy and product solutions for reducing debt and debt service
costs among low wealth households.
Reading:
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Morgan, Donald P., and Michael R. Strain. (2007) “Payday Holiday: How
Households Fare After Payday Credit Bans.” Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
Staff Report 309. (Revised 2008) Available at:
http://www.ny.frb.org/research/staff_reports/sr309.pdf
Burke et al. (2014) “CFPB Data Point: Payday Lending.” Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau. Available at:
http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201403_cfpb_report_payday-lending.pdf
Meltzer. (2011) “The Real Costs of Credit Access: Evidence from the Payday Loan
Model.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press. Available
at: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/126/1/517.full.pdf+html
Karlan and Zinman, “Borrow Less Tomorrow: Behavioral Approaches to Debt
Reduction.” Financial Security Project at Boston College. 2012. Available at:
http://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/FSP-WP-2012-1.pdf
Valenti, Edelman and Gordon. (2015). “Encouraging Responsible Credit for
Financially Vulnerable Consumers.” Center for American Progress. Available at:
https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/07/LendingForSuccess-report.pdf
Week 7 (10-14-15): Presentation of Final Assignments