Want money advice that you can actually understand? So much money advice ignores who we are, our background, our values, and our emotions. I’ll show you how to be in better control of your money every week, even if you’re just starting out.
🏦 Can banks help close the racial wealth gap?
Hi pal,
I’m lucky to be living in such a progressive time. A time when being a woman doesn’t limit my access to banking or credit cards. Even though progress has been made, we have a long way to go.
The racial wealth gap continues to be significant. In 2019, the median net worth of a typical white household, $188,200, was 7.8 times greater than that of a typical Black household, $24,100.
You might wonder how institutions and individuals can help close this gap — well, it so happens I have recently learned about minority deposit institutions. These are banks that provide access to banking services and deposits to minorities to help reduce racial inequalities.
I got a crash course in MDIs through my conversation with Robert E. James II, the Chairman of the National Bankers Association, and Stephen H. Gordon, the CEO of minority deposit institution Genesis Bank.
Do you or anyone you know have any experience with MDIs? I’d love to hear about it. Don’t be shy; hit reply.
Your friend,
1.✊How Banks Can Help Close the Racial Wealth Gap with Robert E. James, II and Stephen H. Gordon (Weird Finance) In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Robert E. James II and Stephen H. Gordon about the role banks play in closing the racial wealth gap, the importance of minority depository institutions (MDIs) in underprivileged communities, the need for increased financial education and skills in underserved communities, the value of diversity and inclusion in the banking industry, and the historical context and impact of the racial wealth gap in the United States. This episode also features a segment called Stock Watch with Amanda Holden (@dumpster.doggy).
2. 📭 You’ve Got (Scam) Mail (New York Times) Is everyone being swindled all the time and just not talking about it?
3. 🎂 How birthdays became week-long blowouts (Vox) If your friends have started throwing lavish, time-intensive birthday celebrations, here’s how to navigate.
4. 🤓 A bookkeeping thing - Keep Your Business & Personal Finances Separate (HYG Original) Some of you may have felt the pain of recently prepping your taxes with commingled data. A friendly reminder to separate them for 2023 — what’s left of it.
5. 🏡The Anti-California. How Montana performed a housing miracle (The Atlantic) If you have single-family zoning and bury your head, you will eventually face San Francisco’s problems. It’s not just the high cost of housing. It’s a high cost of living, wealth inequality, homelessness, and crime.
6. 📖 'A Plague on the Industry': Book Publishing's Broken Blurb System (Esquire) “Blurbs as a marketing and promotional tool almost definitionally create a self-reproducing system which then also almost definitionally leads to inequality, because it is based on social networks and who you know."
7. 🛍️ How a Shopping Addiction Became a Hoarding Problem (The Cut) “Saint Clair realized she had a problem and called for backup in the form of her sister to help sift through and get rid of nearly 2,000 pounds’ (that’s one metric ton) worth of clothing. She has since begun documenting her shopping addiction and hoarding recovery on TikTok, where several of her videos have reached millions of viewers who relate to Saint Clair’s journey.”
8. 😔 We Are Not Just Polarized. We Are Traumatized. (The New Republic) “I believe that we won’t completely heal until we’ve fixed the structural flaws of capitalism. I would love to live in a world where capitalists cared about proving me wrong—a world in which “but what about your trauma?” made as much sense on a political debate stage as a question about the economy or education. But capitalism demands we remain traumatized; if we don’t feel some level of pain and emptiness, we’ll stop buying things we don’t need.”
If you have a question you’d like me to answer on the Weird Finance podcast, you can leave me a voicemail at 1-833-ASK-PACO. You can also email me your question by replying to this email or emailing us at weirdfinancepod@gmail.com.
The Nerdletter by Paco de Leon
Want money advice that you can actually understand? So much money advice ignores who we are, our background, our values, and our emotions. I’ll show you how to be in better control of your money every week, even if you’re just starting out.
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