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YLS and SOM Professors Discuss U.S. Financial Crisis
As the U.S. House of Representatives was preparing to vote on a revised bill to bail out the financial industry in early October, Yale Law School’s Center for the Study of Corporate Law was convening a panel of experts to share their opinions on the bailout and consider the causes of the financial crisis.
The panel discussion on October 2—“What’s Going on in the Financial Markets?”—included Yale Law School Deputy Dean and Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law Jonathan Macey ’82, and Yale School of Management Professors Gary Gorton, Andrew Metrick, and William Goetzmann. The complexity of the crisis was underscored early in the program when the four professors split down the middle when asked to vote yea or nay on the bailout bill, the yeas saying something needed to be done immediately to restore confidence and the nays saying the bill didn’t address the real problem.
“How much do you believe that if we don’t do something serious, there’s going to be a super-duper meltdown?” asked Professor Metrick, saying the answer to that question would determine your position on the vote.
The panel discussion, which filled nearly every seat in Room 127, was one of several events on the financial crisis hosted by the Center for the Study of Corporate Law. The Center also hosted a breakfast for Yale Law School alumni on December 2 in New York City. The program, titled “Assessing the Financial Market Mess: Is There a Subprime Solution?,” featured Yale Law School Professors Ian Ayres ’86 and Jonathan Macey ’82, along with Yale Economics Professor Robert Shiller, who was an adjunct professor at the Law School in the fall term.
The panel discussion on October 2—“What’s Going on in the Financial Markets?”—included Yale Law School Deputy Dean and Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law Jonathan Macey ’82, and Yale School of Management Professors Gary Gorton, Andrew Metrick, and William Goetzmann. The complexity of the crisis was underscored early in the program when the four professors split down the middle when asked to vote yea or nay on the bailout bill, the yeas saying something needed to be done immediately to restore confidence and the nays saying the bill didn’t address the real problem.
“How much do you believe that if we don’t do something serious, there’s going to be a super-duper meltdown?” asked Professor Metrick, saying the answer to that question would determine your position on the vote.
The panel discussion, which filled nearly every seat in Room 127, was one of several events on the financial crisis hosted by the Center for the Study of Corporate Law. The Center also hosted a breakfast for Yale Law School alumni on December 2 in New York City. The program, titled “Assessing the Financial Market Mess: Is There a Subprime Solution?,” featured Yale Law School Professors Ian Ayres ’86 and Jonathan Macey ’82, along with Yale Economics Professor Robert Shiller, who was an adjunct professor at the Law School in the fall term.
