While one might be tempted to suggest that the many bad
consequences of the Dodd-Frank Financial “Reform” bill are typical
unintended consequences of do-gooder over-regulators who pander to
voters with claims of evil, heartless, parasitic bankers.
The truth is that most bankers are hard-working honorable
people, just like people in every other business (other than
politics and union management.) More importantly, they are in one
of the most competitive industries in America, and one which was
already one of the most regulated in America prior to the
disastrous Dodd-Frank mess, which imposes far more damage on the
nation than any potential benefit.
The Financial Services Roundtable has a new “Fast
Facts” paper about the impacts of Dodd-Frank, compiled from
various independent studies. For ordinary Americans it is
a nightmare.
Some lowlights:
- Dodd-Frank crushes earnings at large banks, meaning that
customers will face higher fees and higher loan interest rates,
while investors suffer lower stock prices and lower dividends.
- A particular area of concern for lower income Americans is a
massive drop in the availability of free checking accounts, due to
Dodd-Frank.
- “The Dodd-Frank Act already has imposed $14.2 billion in direct
compliance costs since its passage and will require 25,679
full-time employees to file 51.2 million hours of paperwork
annually.”
- By slashing the potential return on equity for small community
banks, Dodd-Frank is putting many of them out of business, and
preventing many others from being created. So much for looking out
for the little guy.
It goes on and on. It is remarkable that anybody can support
this legislation with a straight face, and we must hope that Mitt
Romney wins the presidency and follows through on his promise to
repeal it.
There is never — I repeat, never — a law which claims to
regulate an industry, particularly one whose customers include the
majority of Americans, which does not end up hurting consumers and
investors far out of proportion to any claimed benefit for our
“protection.”
http://www.fsround.org/fsr/pdfs/fast-facts/ff-2012-10-09-Economic-Impact-of-Dodd-Frank.pdf
