6 minute read
Jazzing Up the Finance World
Photo by Beth Wynn
By Carolanne Roberts
When Dr. Tom Miller, Jr. gazes out at his classes – whether it’s Financial Management, Investments, Consumer Finance or Senior Seminar – he can always tell who’s texting.
“They’ll look me in the eye and admit it,” he says, most impressed. “They are so brutally honest. Then I’ll ask if it’s allowed, and they answer, ‘No sir.’ They always say ‘sir.’ These students are such darned good people – and it makes me want to try hard for them.”
For the record, Miller does impose a $5 fine for texting, to be directed to their favorite charity.
Such insight into his students, as well as his expectations for them, are characteristic of this man who holds the Jack R. Lee Chair of Financial Institutions and Consumer Finance. His students benefit not only from their professor’s teaching but also from those things he does outside the classroom – including research, speeches to consumer groups, congressional testimony and service on the Academic Research Council of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Miller – who wears a tie to class, complete with Windsor knot and signature tie chain, to honor his profession, his parents and his students – was not always in front of a class or deep in research. The career leap from business office to campus came after three years of contemplation and thoughtful exercises from What Color is Your Parachute, which proved a good guide for change.
“My career was great as a corporate economist for a Fortune 500 company, but I wanted more,” he comments. “As I did those exercises, I realized I was returning to the idea of research and teaching – and I thought, ‘yes, there’s a career in that for me.’”
Along the way, he also worked as a retail commodities futures broker, having earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in economics from Montana State University in his home state. A PhD from the University of Washington followed later.
After completing the PhD in 1992, he joined the faculty at the University of Missouri and during his time there also served as a Visiting Associate Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He moved to Saint Louis University (SLU) in 2003, where he served as teacher, researcher and administrator. Adding to his academic accomplishments, he has co-authored two textbooks, Derivatives: Valuation and Risk Management and Fundamentals of Investments: Valuation and Management, the latter of which is now in its ninth edition in both print and e-book formats. “The change to teaching was the best decision I ever made,” he states. “That self-reflection led to my academic career, which put me in touch with what I really wanted to do.”
With the practices of reflection and discernment honed at the Jesuit led SLU, Miller was also open to the move to Mississippi State.
One incentive, beyond the solid College of Business programs and people, was the Jack R. Lee Chair.
“It turns out that the funder of the chair and I share a common interest in free market solutions to financial problems,” says Miller. “Holding this position has allowed me to create a course in consumer credit. I’ve also spent valuable time exploring aspects and dispelling myths about small dollar lending.”
To that end, his current research focuses firmly on this topic. His book entitled How Do Small Dollar Non-Bank Loans Work?, published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, clearly outlines the process.
“It’s designed to shine a light on the subject for state legislatures, the financial press or interested citizens,” he says of the plain-language 72-page primer.
Topics covered include break-even APR, payday loans, pawn loans, installment loans and other aspects of this important credit landscape. He included a glossary of industry terms to further de-mystify the process.
Why this particular subject at this particular time? It is a matter of outreach, the need for research and the audience itself.
“When I did research in derivative securities, a very small number of people were impacted, but small dollar lending affects many people,” he explains. “It’s the aim of my research to maintain freedom of choice for consumers.”
Two important current questions along the small dollar loan landscape are: How does the market set lending rates, and how do consumers, often with limited resources, figure out how to allocate their money across all their demands? Miller does not openly advocate by directing lenders or consumers toward a certain path but rather lays out facts. His goal is to allow informed consumers to determine their own behavior, learning from experiences and facts as they go. He believes that consumers can make decisions for themselves better than policymakers.
Facts – and opinions, too – are what he offered in testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, having first submitted a five-page brief to inform the questions that committee members would pose during a hearing on small dollar nonbank loans. Likewise, expertise and informed opinions are the backbone of the CFPB’s Academic Research Council.
“We report to the director herself,” Miller says. “She has spent entire days meeting with us and wants our unbiased, unvarnished opinions and facts. And I do feel we are making a difference.”
In normal times, the seven-member council meets with CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger in the federal agency’s Washington, DC, headquarters, usually twice a year.
Miller’s many past publications contribute to making a difference, and undoubtedly his planned research will, too. Studies that are in progress or recently released cover such topics as the major issues in small dollar consumer credit, traditional installment loans and the effect of interest rate caps on the market.
“I think the interesting thing is the next question you’re working on,” adds Miller, noting that for him this includes the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the small dollar loan market.
Miller brings the experience of a Fortune 500 corporate economist to the classroom.
Photo by Beth Wynn
During the spring and summer, Miller worked from his home office in the company of Betty, his Jack Russell terrier, and Salley, his found-on-the-side-of-the-road yellow dog. The two were hits in his Zoom classes.
Working at home made it easy to step away at the end of his day for a music break – his beloved tenor saxophone plays an important role in off-hours engagement. The former high school football and basketball player who always longed to be in the band is now doing just that.
During post-graduate days in Michigan, he took life-changing lessons from an elderly Detroit jazz saxophonist, but he set that world aside at the birth of his son. Returning to the sax 20 years later, technology has allowed him to connect with “the best saxophone craftsman in the world,” Randy Jones, from whom Miller buys his horns. These days, he also takes “text lessons” from famed New York-based master Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, to whom Miller sends videos for critique. Miller also attends jazz camps in better times and plays in the Starkville Community Band, alongside Famous Maroon Band members.
“There’s never an end to what you can learn in jazz, so it’s a lifelong pursuit,” he remarks.
Speaking of learning, that is what Miller thrives on at Mississippi State.
“I love feeling that I can make a difference in students’ lives,” he concludes. “I just love to see them learn things. It’s so fulfilling.”
