The Dodd-Frank Act will eliminate the requirement that credit products must be rated before they can be sold to banks and pension funds. Supporters argue that if the information in ratings is valuable, issuers or investors will choose to buy the information, even without the requirement. But...

This paper provides compelling evidence that equity market liberalization, the most efficient way to smooth financial market frictions such as credit constraints, can alleviate persistent cross-dynastic income inequality through increasing the accumulation of human capital. We examine the impact...