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  • Mar
    12

    Appl Math: Xiao Yu Wang on "What the Proposed Credit Card Regulation Really Means for Consumers"

    McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

    11:15 AM M416, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    Title: What the Proposed Credit Card Regulation Really Means for Consumers

    Speaker: Xiao Yu Wang, CRI Foundation

    Abstract:

    My work addresses the need for a theoretical framework to evaluate proposed caps on credit card interest rates and swipe fees by developing a dynamic model that produces usable insights into the patterns and interdependence of consumer spending, credit use, and repayment choices, merchant pricing and competition, and the contract decisions of card issuers. There are several key innovations. First, I derive conditions under which credit cards increase total spending instead of simply reallocating it (rather than assuming one or the other). This is critical since credit cards are a special type of two-sided platform: the lending aspect means there is scope for increasing transaction value beyond the impact of reducing buying frictions. Second, I explicitly model consumer demand given credit access in equilibrium and show how this affects merchant pricing and entry, rather than assuming fixed merchants or that demand and elasticities for goods purchased with credit cards are invariant in consumer wealth. Third, I study which consumers fall into repayment traps and why. Preliminary results identify overlooked mechanisms and externalities which have important implications for the total and distributional impact of rate caps, fee caps, and increased competition, and for optimal regulation of credit cards in general.

    Zoom: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/93537284594

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    TIME Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

    LOCATION M416, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Anne Umbanhowar    anne.umbanhowar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

  • Apr
    2

    Appl Math: Oleg Kirillov on "Title TBA"

    McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

    11:15 AM M416, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

    LOCATION M416, Technological Institute    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Anne Umbanhowar    anne.umbanhowar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

  • May
    13

    Appl Math: Melanie Mitchell on "Title TBA" - Reiss Lecture

    McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

    11:15 AM

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Anne Umbanhowar    anne.umbanhowar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

  • May
    14

    Appl Math: Melanie Mitchell on "Title TBA" - Reiss Lecture

    McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)

    11:15 AM

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Anne Umbanhowar    anne.umbanhowar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)