John Berlau is Senior Fellow for Finance and Access to Capital at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and blogs at OpenMarket.org. E-mail him at jberlau@cei.org.
Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) may have had the best response to yesterday’s resignation announcement by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray. The statement, sent to reporters and posted on her website consisted of just two words: “Good riddance.” Wagner provided links to give some context, and no example shows Cordray’s general arrogance better than […]
In the private sector and during his short time as president, Donald J. Trump has never been shy about firing subordinates. Yet some powerful Obama holdovers seem to have a puzzling staying power. The recent decision of the Justice Department not to prosecute Lois Lerner for her alleged role in the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting […]
While Congress is battling over repeal of Obamacare, President Donald Trump is setting a course to repeal a regulation that the Obama administration pushed through last year and which has become known as “Obamacare for your IRA and 401(k).” Like Obamacare, the “fiduciary rule” dramatically limits choices and raises costs. This rule could devastate our […]
Now that he has been confirmed, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has a lot on his plate. He needs to do what he can administratively to reduce the crushing burden of the Dodd-Frank Act on small banks and credit unions. He also needs to work with Congress on major legislative fixes such as the forthcoming Financial Choice Act from House Financial Services […]
Meet the new deities. They apparently sit on the Financial Stability Oversight Council and other regulatory agencies, especially those created by the Dodd-Frank banking “reform” act. Obama administration officials and Dodd-Frank cheerleaders have been simply apoplectic in their reactions to U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer’s carefully reasoned March 30 decision reversing FSOC’s designation of the […]
On Tuesday evening, President Obama will give his final State of the Union address. In evaluating the state of the U.S., it’s useful to look at the state of economic freedom, including the ability for ordinary Americans to start and invest in a new business without undue government interference. By several measures, economic freedom has […]
It is indeed sad that 40 percent of millennials favor the government banning speech that some deem offensive, according to a recent Pew poll. Even more distressing is that college students have plenty of company with members of other age groups and professions who want to shut down speech they disagree with. Take speech about […]
As the Dodd-Frank “financial reform” celebrated its fifth anniversary this summer, just about every financial business—as well as many nonfinancial firms—have come under its thumb. This is true whether or not these companies had anything to do with the financial crisis. Community banks and credit unions that had nothing to do with the subprime mortgage […]
“A fundamental shift in Wall Street culture” is what the Department of Labor is aiming for with the “fiduciary rule.” That’s what DOL Deputy Assistant Secretary Tim Hauser said in an interview with FinancialPlanning.com during recent hearings on the proposed regulation that has been called “Obamacare for Your IRA.” But the vast majority of comments […]
Progressives cheered Hillary Clinton last week when she said policy makers need to “go beyond Dodd-Frank.” She didn’t rule out repeal of some sections, but most took it to mean preserve virtually all of the law—which turns five on July 21—plus expand government intervention further into banking. But that praise was short-lived when Clinton’s economic […]
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