What is this thing?

Hi, I’m Hilary Allen. I’m a professor who focuses on the impact of new technologies (especially crypto and AI) on finance. I speak regularly with politicians, journalists, and regulators about how Silicon Valley is making our already messed up financial system even worse, and about the politics beneath it all. If you’re interested in my academic publications, you can find them here and here. But more and more, I’ve wanted to speak directly to people who aren’t academics, politicians, journalists or regulators. To bust through the hype and explain that most fintech isn’t delivering on its promises, and to ask why we should put up with fintech’s harms. And to look at how much of Silicon Valley’s competitive advantage comes not from its technology, but from manipulating the law to its benefit. So I decided to write a summer beach read about the decade-plus of work I’ve done on these issues.

I approached a number of publishers to see if they’d be interested in this kind of book, but they felt there wasn’t much of an audience for it. I can sort of see their point: it’s hard to imagine the words “Fintech Dystopia” appearing on a book cover in bright-and-foofy-summer-beach-read font. But I also know that after almost every presentation I’ve given on these topics (and I’ve given at least a hundred of them), people have approached me as I’ve stepped off the podium to tell me that fintech had never passed the smell test for them, but they hadn’t been able to properly articulate their skepticism before hearing my presentation. They’re thrilled to hear that they’re not crazy, that the Emperor might indeed be naked. Because there’s clearly a hunger out there for a fintech explainer from someone who isn’t trying to sell the stuff, I decided to write the book anyway. Now that I’ve written it, I’m frankly thrilled I can put it out as an internet serial right away instead of waiting for a year for it to go through the publication process.

If you’re one of those people hungry for an accessible, sometimes irreverent, and occasionally straight-up pissed off take on how Silicon Valley is making what was already a very problematic financial system worse, I’m glad you’ve found your way here (and I hope you’ll forgive my dated pop culture references and terrible puns). I’ll be publishing a new chapter on this website every week of summer, dropping every Friday until Labor Day weekend. I’d be honored if you’d pair them with your favorite summer beverage and snack of choice – I’m a basic wine mom at heart so I lean rosé and popcorn, but you do you.

Given everything that’s going on in the world, you might say “there are bigger fish to fry than fintech,” and in many ways you would be correct. But you might be surprised how connected the issues in this book are to the things you care most deeply about. Silicon Valley is increasingly impacting every aspect of our lives, and Silicon Valley will only become more powerful as it expands its footprint in financial services. Also, learning about how Silicon Valley is f-ing up our financial system tells us a lot about how they f-up other things as well. So let’s get started…

Contact me

You can find me on Bluesky @profhilaryallen.bsky.social or email me at hjallen@american.edu.