Seminar and Conference Presentations
- University of Kentucky (scheduled), University of Colorado Boulder
- Louisiana State University, Washington University in St. Louis, Stanford GSB, Purdue University, Baruch College
- University of Texas at Dallas, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, University of Toronto, College of William and Mary
- Notre Dame Roundtable on Housing and Mortgage Markets, Copenhagen Business School, London School of Economics, University of Copenhagen Workshop on New Consumption Data, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, ITAM, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Miami
- Dartmouth College, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Annual Research Symposium, UC Berkeley, BYU, SMU, Macro Financial Modeling Winter Meeting, NYU Stern School of Business Conference on Household Finance, University of Notre Dame, United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, American Finance Association Annual Meeting
- University of Texas at Austin, University of Rochester, University of Arizona, Indiana University, NBER Behavioral Finance
- Yale University/Innovations for Poverty Action Researcher Gathering on Advancing Financial Inclusion, Columbia Business School, George Washington University/Federal Reserve Board of Governors Financial Literacy Seminar, Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting, McGill University
- NBER Household Finance: Research Findings and Implications for Policy, University of Colorado Boulder, UC San Diego, Finance UC Conference at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, University of Arizona, University of North Carolina, Northwestern University Institute for Policy Research
- Norges Bank Workshop on Household Finance, Sveriges Riksbank, UCLA, UC Davis, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Credit and Payments Conference, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Policy Summit, NBER Summer Institute Economics of Real Estate and Local Public Economics, International Banking, Economics and Finance Association Summer Meeting, Boulder Summer Conference on Consumer Financial Decision Making, NBER Conference on Poverty, Social Policy and Inequality, NYU Stern, DePaul-Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Finance Seminar, University of Illinois at Chicago, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- American Economic Association Annual Meeting, University of Amsterdam, Stanford GSB, University of Chicago Center for Human Potential and Public Policy
- Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Midwest Economics Association Annual Meeting, Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection, CSIO/IDEI Joint Workshop on Industrial Organization, Financial Intermediation Research Society Conference, Western Finance Association Annual Meeting, NBER Summer Institute Economics of Real Estate and Local Public Finance, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Expenditure Survey Microdata Users’ Workshop, Duke University, University of Missouri
- Financial Intermediation Research Society Conference, Conference on Household Heterogeneity and Household Finance by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and Deutsche Bundesbank, Loyola University Chicago, University of Western Ontario, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
- American Economic Association Annual Meeting, FDIC Center for Financial Research
- Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland, Washington University in St. Louis, Northwestern University, University of Texas at Austin, Yale School of Management, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
Media Coverage
- “Want to Get Rich Quick? Who Can Stop You?” The Wall Street Journal (May 7, 2021)
- “Les conseillers financiers, cordonniers mal chaussés…,” La Presse (April 25, 2021)
- “The Pandemic Has Boosted Homeownership and Home-related Spending,” Tuck School of Business (March 22, 2021)
- “Are We in for Another Housing Crisis?” Tuck School of Business (June 26, 2020)
- “Millions Relying on Pandemic Aid Can See Its End, and They’re Scared,” The New York Times (May 28, 2020)
- “Canadian Financial Advice: Good Intentions, Bad Results,” Morningstar.com (August 27, 2019)
- “Tuck’s Melzer: Financial Advisors Do As Poorly As Their Clients,” Poets&Quants (July 26, 2019)
- “When It Comes to Household Finances, Are You Making the Right Decisions?” Tuck School of Business (April 29, 2019)
- “Study: Unemployment Insurance Prevented 1.4 Million Foreclosures,” BadCredit.org (January 11, 2018)
- “Here’s how much you’ll spend on ‘hidden’ costs when you buy a house,” MarketWatch (August 1, 2017)
- “What Good Is a Financial Advisor?” Kellogg Insight (November 2, 2016)
- “Financial advisers believe their own hype,” Chicago Booth Review (July 3, 2016)
- “Chicago home prices: 2003 redux,” Crain’s Chicago Business (June 2, 2016)
- “Competing Interests,” Brown Political Review (April 25, 2016)
- “Putting a number on the value of financial advice: 3%,” The Globe and Mail (June 14, 2015)
- “The Odd Couple Fighting Against Predatory Payday Lending,” The Atlantic (March 19, 2015)
- “Why financial advice isn’t worth the fees,” Chicago Booth Review (February 25, 2015)
- “Unemployment insurance doesn’t just help the unemployed,” PBS Newshour (January 16, 2015)
- “Client Portfolios May Match Advisers’ Own Asset Allocation,” The Wall Street Journal (December 12, 2014)
- “Make portfolio-building a priority to justify investment adviser fees,” The Globe and Mail (December 5, 2014)
- “How Unemployment Insurance Helps Prevent Foreclosures,” The New York Times, Taking Note Blog (September 9, 2014)
- “Helping Prevent Foreclosures,” The New York Times (August 14, 2014)
- “Yet Another Reason to Extend Unemployment Insurance: It Prevents Foreclosures,” The New Republic (August 5, 2014)
- “Extending Unemployment Benefits During The Recession Prevented 1.4 Million Foreclosures,” ThinkProgress (August 4, 2014)
- “The Hidden Benefits of Unemployment Insurance,” Kellogg Insight (August 4, 2014)
- “The real Repo Man comes to Studentville – with fake debt collection letters,” The Conversation (July 17, 2014)
- “Wal-Mart Customers Access Loans With Progress Financial,” Bloomberg (July 3, 2013)
- “Housing’s Albatross,” Kellogg Insight (August 3, 2012)
- “Federal Regulators Scrutinize Banks’ ‘Advance Direct Deposit’ Loans,” CreditCards.com (April 30, 2012)
- “Wal-mart Money Centers challenge banks, check-cashing stores,” Kellogg Insight, Insight Blog (November 9, 2011)
- “Layaway back for cash-strapped shoppers,” Kellogg Insight, Insight Blog (September 19, 2011)
- “A Case for Payday Loans,” American Banker (July 1, 2011)
- “Half of Americans a step away from financial disaster,” Kellogg Insight, Insight Blog (May 25, 2011)
- “Looking for a low interest rate? Try using a different web browser,” Kellogg Insight, Insight Blog (November 4, 2010)
- “With payday loans, poor get the loans, firms get the payday,” Dallas Morning News (July 25, 2010)
- “Im Schulden-Karussell,” Brand Eins (June 2010)
- “Executive Briefing: The real costs of credit access,” Economist Intelligence Unit (February 18, 2010)
- “The Real Costs of Credit Access,” Kellogg Insight (December 23, 2009)
- “Overdraft fees big business for banks, bad for you,” The Oregonian (September 20, 2009)
- “Payday lenders’ clients find frequent loans costly,” The Tennessean (January 17, 2009)
Grants
- Spillovers from Costly Credit; UC Davis Center for Poverty Research; $20,000; 3/1/2012-2/28/2013
Achievements and Awards
- 2109–2020 Paul E. Raether T’73 Faculty Fellow, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
- 2018 L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year, Kellogg School of Management
- Faculty Impact Award, Fall 2017, Kellogg Student Association (for excellence in teaching)
- Faculty Impact Award, Spring 2017, Kellogg Student Association (for excellence in teaching)
- 2015 Canadian Investment Research Award, CFA Society Toronto & Hillsdale Investment Management (for “Retail Financial Advice: Does One Size Fit All?”)
- AHRQ Health Services Research Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, T-32 (2007-2008)
- Sanford J. Grossman Fellowship in Honor of Arnold Zellner (2007-2008)
- Chicago Center for Excellence in Health Promotion Economics Research Fellowship (2006-2007)
- University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Fellowship (2003-2007)
- Member of Phi Beta Kappa Society
- Class of 1869 Prize for best undergraduate thesis in moral and social ethics
- Recipient of Ernest L. Ransome, III Scholarship for postgraduate study at St. Andrews University
Professional Service and Activities
- National Science Foundation, Law & Social Sciences
- Russell Sage Foundation
- Western Finance Association Annual Meeting (June 2021)
- American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association National Conference (June 2021)
- Society for Financial Studies Cavalcade North America (May 2021)
- 10th Miami Behavioral Finance Conference (December 2019)
- New Perspectives on Consumer Behavior in Credit and Payments Markets (September 2019)
- Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting (March 2019)
- American Economic Association Annual Meeting (January 2019)
- Notre Dame Roundtable on Housing and Mortgage Markets (November 2018)
- Northern Finance Association Annual Meeting (September 2018)
- Western Finance Association Annual Meeting (June 2018)
- Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting (March 2017)
- Western Finance Association Annual Meeting (June 2016)
- American Finance Association Annual Meeting (January 2016)
- Olin Business School 12th Annual Conference on Corporate Finance (November 2015)
- Household Economics and Decision-making Conference, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (September 2015)
- BYU Red Rock Finance Conference (September 2014)
- Finance UC Conference, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (June 2014)
- National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute, Household Finance (July 2013)
- International Banking, Economics and Finance Association Summer Meeting (June 2013)
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Research Symposium, “Restoring Household Financial Stability After the Great Recession: Why Household Balance Sheets Matter” (Februrary 2013)
- American Economic Association Annual Meeting (January 2013)
- Financial Intermediation Research Society Conference (June 2012)
- National Bureau of Economic Research, Housing and the Financial Crisis (November 2011)
- Financial Intermediation Research Society Conference (June 2010)
- American Economic Association Annual Meeting (January 2010)
- Sasha Indarte (Duke University), 2019, research advisor
- Eileen Driscoll (Federal Reserve Board of Governors), 2019, research advisor
- Paolina Medina (Texas A&M), 2017, committee member
- Kevin Roshak (University of Houston), 2016, committee member
- Mary Zaki (University of Maryland Agricultural & Resource Economics), 2014, committee member
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Fourth Research Conference on Consumer Finance (2019)
- Olin Business School at Washington University Annual Conference on Corporate Finance (2018, 2019)
- Western Finance Association Annual Meeting (2012, 2021)
- American Finance Association Annual Meeting (2018)
- Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting (2019)
- Western Finance Association Annual Meeting (2012)
- Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting (2019, 2020)
- National Association of Attorneys General Midwest Region Meeting: Economic Impact of Enforcement in Evolving Marketplaces (April 2012)
- 2011 Marquette University Law School Public Service Conference: “New Directions in Consumer and Community Financial Protection” (February 2011)
- Participant at Summer Institute in Behavioral Economics, Russell Sage Foundation and University of Trento (July 2008)
- Lecturer for Corporate Finance for Business Court Judges, Searle Center, Northwestern University School of Law (April 2008)
- Participant at Payday Lending Research Workshop, Consumer Credit Research Foundation (February 2008)
- Member of American Economic Association, American Finance Association and Western Finance Association
Associate Editor
Review of Finance (2021–)
Ad Hoc Referee
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Review, American Sociological Review, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial Intermediation, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Financial Markets, Journal of Housing Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Public Economics, Management Science, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Black Political Economy, Review of Economics and Statistics, Review of Finance, Review of Financial Studies
Reviewer
Discussant
Ph.D. Advising
Program Committee Member
Session Chair
Track Chair
Panelist
Non-Academic Work Experience
- ABP INVESTMENTS US, INC., New York, NY, 2003
Portfolio Analyst in Hedge Funds Group - DAWSON-GIAMMALVA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, INC., Southport, CT, 2001-2003
Research Analyst covering financial services and financial technology sectors