Sean Vanatta
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seanvanatta.bsky.social
Sean Vanatta
@seanvanatta.bsky.social
Financial historian at University of Glasgow and non-resident fellow at Princeton's JRCPPF. Writing about credit cards (@yalepress), bank supervision (@princetonupress), & pensions.
Pinned
Today is the official pub. date for @petercontibrown.bsky.social and my book, Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America.

We did not anticipate that it would drop at a moment when so much in supervision is up for grabs.

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Private Finance, Public Power
The strange and contested evolution of the management of banking risk
press.princeton.edu
I use the Em dash--over use it even--and I am not a robot.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/m...
With the Em Dash, A.I. Embraces a Fading Tradition
www.nytimes.com
September 19, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Reposted by Sean Vanatta
I was delighted to contribute to the Yale JREG symposium on @seanvanatta.bsky.social and @petercontibrown.bsky.social's excellent new book.

My essay examines what the book can teach us about efforts to eliminate management ratings from the supervisory toolkit.
www.yalejreg.com/nc/in-defens...
www.yalejreg.com
September 12, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Thrilled about this. Check it out!
September 12, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Reposted by Sean Vanatta
The Yale Journal of Regulation is hosting a symposium on @petercontibrown.bsky.social & @seanvanatta.bsky.social's new book "Private Finance, Public Power" - a deeply researched history of bank supervision that anyone interested in banking, state capacity, or Am. political development should read.
Introduction to Symposium on Peter Conti-Brown & Sean Vanatta’s Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America, by Brian D. Feinstein - Yale Journal on Regulation
This post introduces Notice & Comment’s symposium on Peter Conti-Brown and Sean Vanatta’s Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America. For other posts in the series, click ...
www.yalejreg.com
September 11, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Your periodic reminder that credit card rewards are a regressive tax that should be regulated out of existence:

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/b...
Airlines Want a Piece of Every Purchase You Make
www.nytimes.com
September 10, 2025 at 5:37 AM
The tooth fairy is rummaging through the couch cushions tonight. Anyone have 2 quid lying around?
August 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Sean Vanatta
NEW: Read an excerpt from “Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America” by @petercontibrown.bsky.social and @seanvanatta.bsky.social, now out at @princetonupress.bsky.social.

www.promarket.org/2025/07/25/a...
Antimonopoly Banking After the New Deal - ProMarket
The following is an excerpt from "Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America" by Peter Conti-Brown and Sean H. Vanatta, now out at Princeton University Press. 
www.promarket.org
July 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Today is the official pub. date for @petercontibrown.bsky.social and my book, Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America.

We did not anticipate that it would drop at a moment when so much in supervision is up for grabs.

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Private Finance, Public Power
The strange and contested evolution of the management of banking risk
press.princeton.edu
June 24, 2025 at 5:33 AM
If you want to understand what @jeremykress.bsky.social is so worked up about, our book Private Finance, Public Power is out today!

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
June 24, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Reposted by Sean Vanatta
Proud of my two students, @petercontibrown and @seanvanatta.bsky.social on their fantastic new book, Private Finance, Public Power. @princetonupress.bsky.social
June 19, 2025 at 8:27 PM
That magic moment when your research comes full circle. Charge it!
June 19, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Classic bring your bagpipes to work day here in Glasgow.
June 18, 2025 at 8:06 AM
That's a wrap on The Past and Future of Bank Supervision @brookings.edu . Thanks to Aaron Klein for organising and hosting a great event!
June 10, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Sean Vanatta
Super fun show this week with @seanvanatta.bsky.social and @petercontibrown.bsky.social on their new history of bank supervision in the United States. We also cover the recent SCOTUS case on POTUS removing Fed governors, powerlifting, and more! www.mercatus.org/macro-musing... (1/n)
Peter Conti-Brown and Sean Vanatta on the History of Bank Supervision in America
Peter Conti-Brown is a historian and legal scholar of the Federal Reserve System, and an associate professor at the
www.mercatus.org
June 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Started writing the next book today. Off to a good start:

“The laws of the various states for pensions of public employes have been enacted with almost utter disregard for the disastrous experiences contained in the history of unsound pension plans.”

Illinois Pension Laws Commission, 1919
June 3, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Private Finance, Public Power, real and in the flesh! Can't wait until this starts shipping out.

Get yours at press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
May 26, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I do love this country. It's Braw.

www.taps-aff.co.uk
Glasgow, Taps-Aff or Taps-Oan?
www.taps-aff.co.uk
May 17, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Sean Vanatta
📢 Call for Applications: 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐮𝐟𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬
hagley.org businesshistory.bsky.social historians.bsky.social #skystorians

🗓️ Application deadline: November 1 2025

thebhc.org/dissertation...

#FinancialHistory
May 15, 2025 at 10:02 AM
“'The U.S. consumer never lets us down,' John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."

This, with the graph of credit card delinquencies, is the entire post-New Deal US political economy.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Consumers Show Signs of Strain Amid Trump's Tariff Rollout
Consumer spending has been the bulwark against recession. A pullback could slow the economy.
www.nytimes.com
May 16, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Could they redirect those investments toward public infrastructure in a turn to US-style fiscal mutualism (an investment strategy from the midcentury era of conservative nostalgia)?

I'm...not hopeful...

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
May 13, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Oh FFS

Migrants will have to spend decade in UK before applying to stay - on.ft.com/42UkLnF via @FT
Migrants will have to spend decade in UK before applying to stay
Government to also end visas for care workers as part of immigration clampdown
on.ft.com
May 12, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Reposted by Sean Vanatta
If you missed the American Society for Legal History Virtual Book Club last week, you can watch here the recording of @seanvanatta.bsky.social and me discussing our two books: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEYe....

Compliments of the @businesshistoryc.bsky.social .
#businesshistory
Xaq Frohlich & Sean Vanatta -- Book talk #bizhis #books
YouTube video by Business History Conference
www.youtube.com
April 24, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Sean Vanatta
Enjoyed the launch event for @seanvanatta.bsky.social’s Plastic Capitalism, a new history of how credit cards transformed finance and unmoored New Deal America.
April 22, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Want to see how informing consumers evolved as a regulatory strategy across credit and food? Join @comedoergosum.bsky.social next week!
Join me and @seanvanatta.bsky.social online a week from today for our talk about both our books and intersections between legal history and business history, part of the American Society for Legal History Virtual Book Club, co-hosted with @businesshistoryc.bsky.social : aslh.net/virtual-book...
April 9, 2025 at 4:07 PM