Filene Fill-In Ep. 68: Introducing Filene’s Newest Research Fellow Dr. Lisa Servon

Filene Research Institute

In this episode, we introduce you to our newest Filene Fellow for the Center of Excellence for Consumer Financial Lives in Transition. Dr. Lisa Servon is the Kevin and Erica Penn Presidential Professor and Chair of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. The Center for Consumer Financial Lives in Transition studies the changing financial lives and livelihoods of consumers, new forms of economic struggle and financial fragility, and how these changes impact the North American credit union system. As Lisa shares in this interview -- "The work from this center will help credit unions serve people facing different kinds of transitions – income volatility, retirement, physical health and inequalities. If we can understand the frequency of these kinds of transitions and when people are going through them, we may be able to help alleviate the financial burdens that have been historically created.” One thing of note about this interview – we recorded this in March, before we knew as much about what would soon unfold with the COVID-19 pandemic, so in a way, it is a bit of a time capsule look at the way things used to be…we recorded together in our small podcast studio, something unlikely to happen as such again for a long time. But still, the ideas and challenges Lisa talks about are only ever more relevant today for having lived through this pandemic and being where we are at with it all now. Stick around until the end to hear Lisa’s answer to her provocative question that led her to start one of her main research pursuits -- if alternative financial services are so bad for people, then why are so many people using them? – There’s got to be a better reason than that people are stupid.