DAVID MARTIN

My dissertation sought to explain the political origins of the United States’ public-private partnership in monetary policy and financial crises. My main research questions are as follows: (1) why is money creation authority shared between the state and the private sector in the United States? (2) Why do periods of fiscal and monetary reform produce systems marked by instability and crisis? I adopt a multi-method approach with both archival research as well as quantitative analyses of roll-call votes.

In three case studies of changes in fiscal, monetary, and banking policy in US history—1861-1879, 1929-1940 and 1941-1960—I outline the theory of “Elite Entanglement.” 

The theory of Elite Entanglement argues that America’s financial system has been shaped not only by the preferences of financial elites but also the state’s fiscal imperatives. Similar to other scholars in American Political Economy (APE) and American Political Development (APD), I find that financial interest lobbying plays a key role in the processes of outsourcing and deregulation. Put simply, banks and other financial institutions benefit from lending to the government and from having the authority to create money. Yet my findings also demonstrate that state actors retain significant autonomy: they have repeatedly intervened in the design of monetary institutions in ways that have advanced distinct state interests—most notably, creating liquidity in government bond markets to secure cheap government borrowing to finance deficits. 

Please see the "Research" tab for the abstract of chapter 5 of my dissertation which serves as my job market paper.

At Rutgers, I also work as a Research Associate at the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling. Please see the "Public Opinion + Data Science" tab above for more details.

I have also designed and taught Intro to American Politics, American Political Economy, and Money and Modern America. I'm a Philly sports fan, and enjoy hiking and soccer.