The 2008 financial crash and the ensuing Great Recession resulted from decades of unconstrained excess and failures of risk management on Wall Street and complacency in Washington. While the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act sought to curtail these abuses, more work remains to be done. Volume 3, Issue 1 of RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, edited by Michael S. Barr, sets out proposals for comprehensive financial reform. In the issue, contributors suggest how to improve financial regulation, make markets more resilient, and increase protections for consumers and investors in order to lower the likelihood of a future crisis.

Several articles evaluate the successes and shortcomings of the Dodd-Frank bill which mandated greater federal oversight of banks, increased regulation of credit rating agencies, and established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), among other measures. Other contributors investigate new performance standards for home mortgage lenders and other financial service providers. Contributors also discuss strategies for improving global financial regulation in ways that could lessen the impact of future crises.

View the open-access issue in full.