Gerald Epstein
Professor of Economics | Co-Director PERI University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Amherst MA
Economist specializing in central banking, financial regulation, macroeconomic policy and international finance
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Expertise
Biography
His work examines how monetary policy, financial regulation and the structure of financial institutions shape economic growth, employment, inequality and political power. He has written extensively on central bank independence, inflation targeting, capital controls, financialization and the political economy of financial crises.
Epstein is the author of Busting the Bankers’ Club: Finance for the Rest of Us, The Political Economy of Central Banking: Contested Control and the Power of Finance, and What’s Wrong with Modern Money Theory? A Policy Critique. He has also edited or co-edited books on international finance, financial crises and the global economy.
Through PERI research and public policy projects, Epstein contributes analysis of banking reform, public finance, employment-oriented macroeconomic policy and strategies for building a more equitable financial system.
Video
Education
Princeton University
PhD
Economics
1981
Swarthmore College
Bachelor’s degree
Political Science
Select Recent Media Coverage
UMass Amherst Professor Gerald Epstein on Fed Reserve rate cut, implications and unprecedented challenges
WAMC Northeast Public Radio online
2025-09-20
Radio interview about the Federal Reserve’s September 2025 rate cut, monetary policy, inflation, unemployment and threats to Fed independence.
Behind the News: The Eternal Present w/ Anna Kornbluh
Jacobin Radio online
2024-02-20
Podcast appearance in which Epstein discusses the financial system, the finance racket and ways to transform it.
From Jekyll to Hyde: Exploring the Dual Nature of Finance | The Bankers’ Club w/ Prof. Gerald Epstein – EP226
Economics Explored online
2024-02-10
Podcast interview about financial deregulation, Dodd-Frank, quantitative easing, public banking, crypto and the political influence of large banks.
Is the US Dollar on the Verge of Being Dethroned as the World’s Currency?
Truthout online
2023-07-17
Interview examining de-dollarization, the dollar’s reserve-currency role, sanctions, international finance and implications for the U.S. and global economy.
How the Federal Reserve Protects the Top One Percent
The American Prospect online
2023-01-19
Commentary by Epstein and Aaron Medlin arguing that Federal Reserve policy and interest-rate hikes disproportionately protect financial elites and burden workers.
To Boost Prosperity, We Must Shrink the Financial Sector
TIME online
2019-11-27
TIME article cites Epstein and Juan Antonio Montecino’s research on the economic costs of an oversized financial sector.
Financial Globalization Can Wreck Societies And The World Economy: An Interview With Political Economist Gerald Epstein
Global Policy Journal online
2017-07-25
Interview covering financial globalization, macroeconomic effects of financialization, global economic instability and policy responses.
Financialization Has Turned the Global Economy Into a House of Cards: An Interview With Gerald Epstein
Truthout online
2017-07-23
Interview focused on financialization, financial instability, re-regulation, public finance options and the political power of finance.
Select Publications
How much should we trust five-year averaging to purge business cycle effects? A reassessment of the finance-growth and capital accumulation-unemployment nexus
Economic ModellingSimon Sturn, Gerald A. Epstein
2020-12-30
Reassesses whether averaging data over five-year periods effectively removes business-cycle effects when studying the relationships between finance and growth, and between capital accumulation and unemployment.
The Empirical and Institutional Limits of Modern Money Theory
Review of Radical Political EconomicsGerald A. Epstein
2020-08-04
Identifies empirical and institutional limits on the applicability of Modern Money Theory and considers their implications for the theory’s main macroeconomic policy proposals.
The MMT Free Lunch Mirage Can Lead to a Perverse Outcome
ChallengeGerald A. Epstein
2019-12-09
Critiques the idea that federal deficits are generally inconsequential under Modern Money Theory, focusing on what may happen when the economy reaches full employment.
Macroeconomic policy after the conservative era : studies in investment, saving and finance
Works - Scholarship, Research, & Creative Expression (Swarthmore College)Gerald A. Epstein, Herbert M. Gintis
1995-01-01
A collection of studies on macroeconomic policy after the conservative era, examining sustainable growth, saving, investment, employment and finance in advanced capitalist economies.
Political Economy and Comparative Central Banking
Review of Radical Political EconomicsGerald A. Epstein
1992-03-01
Develops a Marx-Keynes-Kalecki model of comparative central banking and examines how monetary policy is shaped by capital-labor relations, industry-finance ties, central bank independence and a country’s position in the world economy.
Monetary Policy, Loan Liquidation, and Industrial Conflict: The Federal Reserve and the Open Market Operations of 1932
The Journal of Economic HistoryGerald A. Epstein, Thomas Ferguson
1984-12-01
Analyzes the Federal Reserve’s 1932 attempt to counter the Great Contraction through expansionary open-market operations and its subsequent abandonment, emphasizing private bankers, Britain’s departure from the gold standard and broader industrial conflict.
