The Future of Finance: Implications of Innovation
68th Economic Conference
As we stand at the cusp of potentially transformative advances in big data, machine learning, and generative artificial intelligence, it is imperative that we explore the important questions about how technology will influence finance in the years ahead: What are the new financial services that have been – and will be – enabled by these technologies? Will these technologies change the delivery of financial services such that, for example, they are increasingly provided by nontraditional intermediaries and are more accessible to underserved consumers and communities? And to what extent will such changes make the financial system more efficient and resilient as well as more equitable? While a greater volume of data can improve the efficiency and security of financial services, it can also jeopardize the privacy of information and lead to less equitable access to those services. New technologies can enhance efficiency, but they can also increase market power. This conference will bring together researchers, regulators, supervisors, and industry practitioners to review past lessons and preview the future of finance and the opportunities and challenges being raised by the current wave of new technologies.
Agenda
Friday, November 15, 2024
Breakfast
Welcoming Remarks
Egon Zakrajšek
Executive Vice President and Director of Research
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Susan M. Collins
President and Chief Executive Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Paper Session 1: Innovative Financial Technologies and Financial Inclusion
Author:
Emily Williams
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Harvard Business School
Discussant:
Julapa Jagtiani
Senior Economic Advisor and Economist, Supervision, Regulation, and Credit Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Moderator:
Jeff Fuhrer
Nonresident Fellow, Brookings Institution
Foundation Fellow, Eastern Bank Foundation
Break
Paper Session 2: New Financial Technologies: Boon to or Bane of Small Businesses?
Authors:
Mattia Landoni
Senior Financial Economist, Supervision, Regulation, and Credit Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
J. Christina Wang
Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, Research Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Discussant:
Victoria Ivashina
Lovett-Learned Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Unit
Harvard Business School
Moderator:
Camelia Minoiu
Research Economist and Advisor, Research Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Luncheon
Keynote Address
Adair Morse
William A. and Betty H. Hasler Chair in New Enterprise Development and Professor of Finance
Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Paper Session 3: New Payment Technologies: Implications for Liquidity Policy and Financial Stability
Author:
Charles M. Kahn
Professor Emeritus of Finance and Economics
University of Illinois
Discussant:
Mohammad Davoodalhosseini
Research Advisor, Banking and Payments Department
Bank of Canada
Moderator:
Joanna Stavins
Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, Research Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Break
Panel 1: Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Blockchain/Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and Smart Contracts: Hope or Hype?
Panelists:
Lin William Cong
Rudd Family Professor of Management and Professor of Finance
Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
Hanna Halaburda
Associate Professor of Technology, Operations, and Statistics
Stern School of Business, New York University
Christine A. Parlour
Sylvan C. Coleman Chair of Finance and Accounting
Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Moderator:
Kenechukwu E. Anadu
Vice President, Supervision, Regulation, and Credit Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Reception
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Breakfast
Panel 2: How Can Technology Make Regulation and Supervision Smarter and Regulators More Efficient?
Panelists:
Slavka Eley
Head of Governance and Coordination
European Labour Authority
Jermy Prenio
Principal Advisor, Financial Stability Institute
Bank for International Settlements
Lawrence J. White
Robert Kavesh, Professor of Economics
Stern School of Business, New York University
Moderator:
Eric S. Rosengren
Former President and CEO
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Break
Paper Session 4: The Financial System of the Future: Opportunities and Challenges for the Central Bank
Author:
Fiorella De Fiore
Research Adviser, Bank for International Settlements
Research Fellow, Centre for Economic Policy Research
Discussant:
Andrew Levin
Professor of Economics
Dartmouth College
Moderator:
Jenny Tang
Vice President and Economist, Research Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Closing Remarks
Egon Zakrajšek
Executive Vice President and Director of Research
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Susan M. Collins
President and Chief Executive Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Luncheon
Contacts
Sign up to receive new research from the Boston Fed’s Research Department.
Sign up for Research Department Updates.
Site Topics
Related Content
After the Fall: Re-Evaluating Supervisory, Regulatory, and Monetary Policy
2016 Cybersecurity Conference
Racial Wealth Disparities: Reconsidering the Roles of Human Capital and Inheritance
Funding Pensions: Issues and Implications for Financial Markets