Credit Card Rules, Obama’s First 100 Days and the Auto Bailout
The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on new regulations for credit card companies.
Political observers judge the progress of Obama’s first 100 days as President.
The federal bailout plan for car companies calls for the United Auto Workers to receive a large ownership stake in General Motors and Chrysler.
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1. BUSINESS
The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on new regulations for credit card companies.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs John Berlau on why tighter restrictions on credit will not help consumers:
“Limits on risk-based pricing, as enacted in rules last year from the Federal Reserve, and in proposals in Congress that go beyond these rules, could result in sharp limits in the availability of credit at a time when policy makers want to get credit flowing again…credit card issuers may be reacting by limiting credit lines for all card holders because of the loss of the ability to engage in risk-based pricing. So responsible card holders who never miss a payment are paying the price for these misguided rules.”
2. ENERGY
Political observers judge the progress of Obama’s first 100 days as President.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on the President’s energy policy:
“When it comes to energy and the environment, President Obama’s policies in his first 100 days have set not just the nation but the President himself on course for disaster. His energy policy is focused on raising the cost of traditional energy and pumping large amounts of money into expensive alternative energy. His environmental policy is based around the idea that America has to de-carbonize, whether or not the rest of the world wants to. Both these policies are problematic in the extreme.”
3. LABOR
The federal bailout plan for car companies calls for the United Auto Workers to receive a large ownership stake in General Motors and Chrysler.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Editorial Director Ivan Osorio on how the UAW will now be negotiating with itself:
“In practice, monopoly bargaining generally leads to an adversarial relationship between a company’s management and the union that represents its employees, so it will be interesting to see how the UAW ‘sitting on both sides of the table’ affects this dynamic. On the one hand, its members would still expect the UAW to gain the highest pay and benefits possible. On the other, as a major partial owner, it would have very strong incentives to keep costs down to help increase profits.”
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