Venoo Kakar_SFSU

Venoo Kakar

Associate Professor of Economics
San Francisco State University

Venoo Kakar is an Associate Professor of Economics at San Francisco State University. She is a macroeconomist and an applied econometrician. She earned her PhD in Economics from the University of California, Riverside. Her research topics are situated in macro/monetary economics, consumer finances, inequality, and housing economics. Her current work examines the implications of student loan debt on wealth outcomes for US households as well as the direct and indirect effects of monetary policy. Her work has been published in leading economics journals such as the Journal of Development Studies, the Journal of Consumer Affairs, the Journal of Housing Economics, and Economic Modelling. Her scholarly work has been featured across various media platforms such as the National Public Radio, Journalist’s Resource of Harvard Kennedy School, and the National Affairs magazine. She has previously worked in the area of Development Economics at the World Bank and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).  

  • The media is replete with articles speculating about President Biden’s across-the-board  student loan debt relief plans, given that federal student loan debt exceeds $1.6 trillion spread across 43 million borrowers, according to the Federal Student Aid portfolio summary for 2022. These plans for broad-based forgiveness extend beyond the existing pause on student loan payments implemented through COVID-19 emergency relief, Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program waivers, and forgiveness for borrowers defrauded by for-profit institutions and borrowers with disabilities.

    August 18, 2022

  • This project will examine the impact of existing student debt forgiveness policies on racial wealth gaps, specifically on Black-White and Hispanic-White wealth gaps.

    December 14, 2021