Aaron Brown, Columnist

Enlist Wall Street to Fight Pandemics Before It’s Too Late

So-called vaccine securities can finance research and be issued at interest rates on par with what governments pay for general-purpose borrowing.

January 5, 2021 at 2:00 PM UTC

By Aaron Brown

Aaron Brown is a former head of financial market research at AQR Capital Management. He is also an active crypto investor, and has venture capital investments and advisory ties with crypto firms. He is the author of the soon-to-be-released "Wrong Number."

Wall Street can help prevent future pandemics.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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One of the many lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic is the need for improved vaccine financing. This is not a new issue, but 2021 may be the year it is solved.2

Financial engineering usually connects suppliers of capital to users. For example, mortgage-backed securities were developed so investors who wanted steady safe income could provide funds to home buyers more efficiently and cheaply than banks had done -- as long as the engineering was sound.