iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I'm pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of Enterprise Organizations: Law, Theory, and Practice, a law school casebook on business organizations. As with last year's first edition, I have aimed to make it modern, accessible, practical, and affordable ($85).

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

My new casebook is the bestseller in corporate law on Amazon -->

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

I published a new business organizations casebook.

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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

There is no need to be maximalist anti-tariff, which can be a useful tool to allow infant industries to thrive. That's especially true when praising an industrial policy that used tariffs!

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

"We spent the last 30 years coming to a new understanding as a country about what we need to do. And sometimes that means tariffs." -- Buttigieg

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 09/04/2025

me this morning www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/o...

There is a hypothetical president with a hypothetically similar agenda who could answer these questions. This actual president cannot. He did not reason himself into his preoccupation with tariffs and can neither reason nor speak coherently about them. There is no grand plan or strategic vision, no matter what his advisers claim — only the impulsive actions of a mad king, untethered from any responsibility to the nation or its people. For as much as the president’s apologists would like us to believe otherwise, Trump’s tariffs are not a policy as we traditionally understand it. What they are is an instantiation of his psyche: a concrete expression of his zero-sum worldview.

The fundamental truth of Donald Trump is that he apparently cannot conceive of any relationship between individuals, peoples or states as anything other than a status game, a competition for dominance. His long history of scams, hostile litigation — not to mention his frequent refusal to pay contractors, lawyers, brokers and other people who were working for him — is evidence enough of the reality that a deal with Trump is less an agreement between equals than an opportunity for Trump to abuse and exploit the other party for his own benefit. For Trump, there is no such thing as a mutually beneficial relationship or a positive-sum outcome. In every interaction, no matter how trivial or insignificant, someone has to win and someone has to lose. And Trump, as we all know, is a winner.

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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 09/04/2025

Time really is a circle. Leveraged hedge funds make billions; bets blow up; dash for cash; the Fed steps in; repeat. Here's what I wrote four years ago about central banks as guarantors of this unjust and inefficient (some might say: stupid) system. benjaminbraun.org/assets/pubs/...

Consider the turmoil, in late 2019, in the US repo market, wherefinancial firms borrow and lend cash against securities, pledged as col-lateral. A major cause of this turmoil was liquidity demand from hedgeand private equity funds. These funds are typically levered — in ordermaximize their returns, they borrow large sums in the shadow bankingsystem, often pledging the assets they acquire as collateral. In order tostabilize the repo market, the Federal Reserve increased its balance sheetby 10 percent, or USD 400 billion, between September 2019 and Janu-ary 2020. The question “What is the social value of levered hedge fundsand private equity buyouts?” was not asked.The same pattern recurred — on a much larger scale — in the wakeof the COVID outbreak in early 2020. In order to prevent the economicshock caused by the pandemic from leading to another systemic financialcrisis, central banks across the world chose to backstop not only banksbut also the broader shadow banking system. The most audacious meas-ures — in both size and scope — have been implemented by the Fed-eral Reserve. By purchasing so-called “junk bonds” — bonds issued bycorporate debtors with lower credit ratings — the Federal Reserve againbackstopped private equity funds, which routinely transfer debt to theirbuyout targets, forcing the latter to issue junk bonds. By backstopping

both the money market and the (high-risk) capital market, the FederalReserve effectively protects both the liability side and the asset side oflevered investors’ balance sheets.In other words, the Federal Reserve ensures that the arsenal of themost predatory actors in the financial system is fully stocked and readyto be deployed — for further financializing currently distressed sectorsof the economy, such as elderly care. Shareholders understand — thestock price of firms such as Blackstone and Apollo bounced back spec-tacularly after the Federal Reserve announced its measures. Unless gov-ernments take swift and decisive action to curb the ability of hedge andprivate equity funds to gobble up assets, COVID will become a majormilestone in the long history of central bank-facilitated financialization.The upshot is that while central bank planning already exists, it iscurrently geared toward propping up a system in which the planning ofinvestment is in private hands. This system is both unfair and inefficient.Central banks have become the lenders of last resort for a manifestly un-sustainable status quo (Fontan, Claveau, and Dietsch 2016; Jacobs andKing 2016; Streeck 2014).

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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

You may see care for the intellectually and developmentally disabled as a moral imperative. Private equity has been consolidating the field for the last decade because, well, because of money. Dan Boguslaw reports on a new study of PE's lucrative rollup, and the consequences:

prospect.org

Private Equity Vultures Descend on Care Facilities for the Disabled

A new report chronicles ten years of consolidation.

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

. @matt-levine.bsky.social unwittingly making the case for rate regulation in banking.

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

.@matt-levine.bsky.social on Eurodollars. The most fundamental question in all of finance is -- and for hundreds of years has been -- "who gets to issue money [dollars in this case] and subject to what constraints."

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

I haven't listened to part 3 yet but you absolutely cannot miss parts 1 and 2 of this podcast. Incredible stuff. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

The Hidden History of Eurodollars, Part 2: Defending the Dollar System

Podcast Episode · Odd Lots · 01/15/2025 · 43m

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

My grandfather's 100th birthday!

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Musk's apparent flouting of Exchange Act § 13(d) in 2022 without any legal repercussions tells you a lot about elite impunity in America. (clip from recent @matt-levine.bsky.social newsletter)

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Konings's introductory essay here is deep and has given me a lot to think about. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in finance and economic policy. Parts of it relate to what Lev Menand and I have called "the monetary-financial complex."

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

If we're going to be overhauling bank regulatory structure then may I humbly suggest:

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

It's amazing that the mainstream retail payment system is controlled by a duopoly, basically free from meaningful economic regulation. It would be nice to see some leadership from the Fed in this area. t.co/2qGESBLwBy

t.co

https://youtube.com/shorts/dFK_u8pDV3Q?si=hgvrU0jyVDMhAok0

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

I'm looking for readings re: whether changes in US equity market structure from ~1997 to 2005 (order handling rules, regulation ATS, regulation NMS, etc.) contributed to the near-demise of the IPO market -- would be very grateful for any suggestions.

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Great event here last month with Jonathan Kanter.

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

The case for imposing rate regulation on credit card networks / swipe fees is very strong.

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Actually it began in earnest in the Carter Administration, for what it's worth.

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Ganesh Sitaraman @ganeshsitaraman.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Frequent flyer programs have changed — and people are rightly wondering if they are a good deal - but this piece doesn’t spend much time on the lack of transparency and unfair practices that are also in these programs. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/28/b...

nytimes.com

Are Airline Loyalty Programs Worth It?

Some travelers, frustrated with changing airline rewards programs, have stopped chasing status and adopted different strategies when booking flights and using credit cards.

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

There's an important question about whether the combination of limited liability and concentrated ownership / high-powered incentives is good for society. It puts a lot of pressure on the guardrails. See e.g. the studies on effects of private equity ownership of nursing homes and hospitals.

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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 27/11/2024

good piece on how all the big platforms are suppressing hyperlinks, of course because they want to keep people corralled for maximum profit www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Analysis | Musk admits X throttles links as ‘news influencers’ take over

Hard times for the humble hyperlink and those who depend on it.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

* EXCLUSIVE -- WELLS FARGO ASSET CAP LIKELY TO BE LIFTED NEXT YEAR, SOURCES SAY @reuters $WFC

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Carly Goodman @carlygoodman.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Deleting twitter felt fine in the end but it’s hard to overstate how much it mattered in allowing me to make a career. It feels so silly to say.

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David M. P. Freund @mpeterf.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Hey @morganricks1.bsky.social, students in my "American Money" seminar read the opening chapters of TMP this week. It hits home, thanks.

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Been away from here for a while but think I will try reengaging.

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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 18/12/2023

up now on our @theprospect.bsky.social telethon, Ganesh Sitaraman on why flying is horrible now www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNjq...

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Just Money @justmoney.bsky.social · 21/11/2023

🚨 Current scholarship! "Rebuilding Banking Law: Banks as Public Utilities" by Lev Menand and @morganricks1.bsky.social Check out the article, policy brief, and op-ed! 👇

justmoney.org

Current Scholarship Rebuilding Banking Law: Banks as Public Utilities

Lev Menand & Morgan Ricks

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Just Money @justmoney.bsky.social · 30/10/2023

Event announcement ! Paper Talk: "Counterfeit Empire: Speculative Currency and the 1825 Haitian Indemnity" by Arielle Alterwaite Thursday, November 2, 2023, at 12.00 pm to 1.30 pm EST justmoney.org/haitian-inde...

justmoney.org

Announcement Paper Talk – Counterfeit Empire : Speculative Currency and the 1825 Haitian Indemnity

Thursday , November 2, 2023 at 12.00 pm. ET

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 31/10/2023

As I never tire of saying,* banking law can't cohere, and financial stability policy can't succeed, without a functional definition of "deposit." Congress should enact one. * ok, sometimes I tire. From @matt_levine today:

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Adrianna McIntyre @adrianna.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

A stat I will tell anyone who will listen: the number of people who are uninsured but *eligible for Medicaid* (7.4M in 2021) is more than three times as large as the number of people in the failure-to-expand Medicaid gap (1.9M in 2021) That's administrative burdens, not lack of affordability

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

I'm about to start writing the financial market infrastructure chapter for the second edition of Networks, Platforms, and Utilities: Law & Policy and today @matt-levine.bsky.social delivers some timely content:

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Morgan Ricks @morganricks1.bsky.social · 26/10/2023

Thought-provoking piece: www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/o...

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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 12/10/2023

I just put up a new, rather long, blog post, thinking about the larger significance of recent debates over "greedflation," and some historical precedents for them. jwmason.org/slackwire/in... [Posted wrong link before.]

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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 12/10/2023

A list of financial data sources, curated for political economy use cases. Official statistics as well as datasets compiled by organizations and academic researchers. Originally assembled for my students, now available on my website. Suggestions welcome! benjaminbraun.org/teaching/dat...

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