"The first readers of Awrey's masterwork should include the top economic policymakers in Congress, the White House, and the Federal Reserve. This is the go-to source for a commonsense understanding of our system of money and payments, how it has fallen behind, and what to do about that. The scholarship and clarity are outstanding!" --Darrell Duffie, Stanford Graduate School of Business "If you are wondering why the United States--the largest and most advanced economy in the world--lags far behind many advanced as well as developing economies when it comes to money and payments, read this book. And if you weren't wondering about that, then all the more reason to read this book. It is a lucid analysis of where we are and how we got here and a blueprint for the future--a thoughtful set of policies for achieving consumer protection, financial stability, competition, and innovation in our financial system." --Timothy Massad, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University "In this superb and pathbreaking book, Dan Awrey chronicles how new payments providers like Venmo and stablecoins are overtaking traditional banks in terms of speed, ease of use, and cost savings, but without the regulatory safeguards necessary to ensure that these payment innovations will offer sound money throughout the business cycle. Beyond Banks presents a clear-eyed and practical reform agenda that would bring new payment systems squarely within the regulatory perimeter and subject to specialized insolvency procedures. Legislators and regulators ignore these proposals at their (and our) peril.

" --Howell E. Jackson, Harvard Law School "There is quite possibly no legal academic who knows more about money and banking than Dan Awrey. The fact that he writes in this book a brilliant account of the technology of money--and the systems in which it operates--makes it as much a guide for the future as it is a lens for understanding the past. A must-read." --Chris Brummer, Georgetown University Law Center.