Category: Michael Svedman

Just Money Profiles
Michael Svedman, Columnist

Michael Svedman, ContributorMichael Svedman is a JD at Harvard Law School (class of 2020). He has worked as a legal intern at ArchCity Defenders, a civil rights law firm in St. Louis, MO, and as a summer associate in the corporate department at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, NY. Michael’s research as a law student has focused on matters related to the law of money and finance, and he has written on topics including the Italian mini-BOT proposal and the status of parallel currencies under EU law, the political economy of large passive investment vehicles, and corporate governance reforms aimed at curbing financialization.

Michael is also the executive article editor of the Harvard Law & Policy Review and a managing editor of the Harvard Law School Blockchain and Fintech Initiative’s Ledgers & Law blog.

Policy Spotlight
Italy’s mini-BOT Proposal

Author: Michael Svedman

The proposal by Italy’s Lega Norda (or League) political party to introduce a currency-like instrument called the mini-BOT that would circulate alongside the euro has generated significant commentary and criticism. These debates shed light on the public dimension of money by forcing us to consider the relationship between monetary authority and political sovereignty. With implications reaching far beyond the economic impact of such an instrument, the mini-BOT raises urgent questions about the stability of the European Union, the rise of populism on the Left and Right, and the coherence of the neoliberal political and economic consensus that underwrites the EU project.