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How Fiscal Policy Moves Financial Markets

A person smiles toward the viewer in a professional headshot, before a light purple background Professor Courtney Wiegand’s paper, “The Effect of Fiscal Policy Shocks on Asset Prices,” examines how financial markets respond to unexpected changes in the federal government's deficit outlook, and was awarded with an Honorable Mention at the 2025 Marshall Blume Prize in Financial Research ceremony. By measuring fiscal policy shocks throughout…Read More

Itay Goldstein on the Promise and Perils of Financial Innovations

A person speaks at a podium during a conference "It is important to be open minded about new technologies even if they disrupt existing financial infrastructure." As digital payments, stablecoins, and tokenization gain traction, they raise important questions about the future of financial markets, institutions, and regulation. At the 2026 IMF-WIFPR Conference on the Evolving Global Financial Architecture, experts…Read More

Mispricing Climate Risk: How Insurance Fragility Shapes Mortgage Markets

A person's professional headshot on the left, with text on the right that reads, "Parinitha Sastry, Assistant Professor of Finance at Wharton. On “When Insurers Exit: Climate Losses, Fragile Insurers, and Mortgage Markets” Professor Parinitha Sastry and her co-authors Ishita Sen and Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva won the 2025 Marshall Blume Prize in Financial Research for their working paper, "When Insurers Exit: Climate Losses, Fragile Insurers, and Mortgage Markets." Their study examines how mispricing of climate risk in mortgages and property insurance creates large taxpayer…Read More

Reflections from Moderating Fireside Chats: Q&A with Muhammad Vakil

Two speakers seated, engaged in a fireside chat before an audience Photo of Muhammad Vakil interviewing Blair Effron by Aditi Anakala Muhammad Vakil (W’26) is a Joseph Wharton Scholar and graduating senior at Wharton studying Finance and Business Analytics from Dubai. On campus, he has served as President of the Wharton Undergraduate Private Equity & Venture Capital Club, President of the…Read More

The Changing Landscape of Municipal Financial Advisors

A person in a blue suit smiles before a dark background. A caption appears that says "Discoveries: Daniel Garrett" Municipal financial advisors play an important, but often under-examined, role in how state and local governments access financial markets. In a recent study published in Public Budgeting & Finance titled, "The Evolving Role of 21st Century Municipal Financial Advisors," Professor Daniel Garrett and his co-author Baridhi Malakar explore how this…Read More

Announcing the Winners of the Marshall Blume Prizes in Financial Research

Three people smile for a group photo holding prize boxes The winners of the Marshall Blume Prizes for 2025, from left to right: Courtney Wiegand, Parinitha Sastry, and Lu Liu. Photo taken by Luke Taylor. The Marshall Blume Prizes in Financial Research are awarded annually by the Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research to the best unpublished working papers…Read More

David Wessel on the Federal Reserve’s Future

A panel of speakers smiles while in conversation in a sunlit room "The Federal Reserve faces a serious threat to its continued independence." – David Wessel As political pressure on the U.S. central bank mounts, questions around the independence of the Federal Reserve have taken on new urgency. At the 2026 Wharton Future of Finance Forum, a panel titled “The Path Ahead…Read More

Itay Goldstein on AI’s Opportunity and Risk in Finance

A speaker addresses an audience with one hand raised, before a blue pop up banner "Regulators need to move with the frontier, understand how markets evolve, and take actions as needed." – Itay Goldstein Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the finance sector, and posing enormous questions for professionals, regulators, and researchers about how the field will navigate the massive potential and systemic risks that come…Read More

Sylvain Catherine and Lu Liu Win Prestigious Research Prizes

Two people's headshots side by side with text in white font that reads "Sylvain Catherine and Lu Liu Win American Finance Association First Prizes" Two members of Wharton’s finance faculty — Sylvain Catherine and Lu Liu — were named among this year’s winners of the American Finance Association’s First Prizes, awarded for outstanding research published in the Journal of Finance, one of the field’s most prestigious publications. Both papers were previously recognized with Marshall Blume Prizes in Financial Research, awarded annually…Read More