Citation
Toyota’s Trials – and Government Conflict of Interest
Op-Eds
Why do Liberal Environmentalists put Their Agenda Above the Safety of America and it’s Citizens?
Environmentalists, with the help of politicians and other government officials, have an agenda that has cost thousands of American lives. In the…
Op-Eds
Obama can Aid Small Businesses by Providing Regulatory Reform
In news accounts about fights over new regulation, the story is almost always the same. The media portray the drama as that of well-intentioned…
Op-Eds
The Corporate Library: Servant of Special Interests
Full Document Available in PDF Labor unions, left-leaning foundations and activists declare their support…
Op-Eds
Did Ben Fold?
Looking back at the Federal Reserve Board’s attempts at self-justification after the Great Depression in Free to Choose, Milton and Rose Friedman concluded that…
Letters
Audit the Fed First
Dear Members of the U.S. Senate: In the last two years, the Federal Reserve Board has lent several trillion dollars to banks…
Citation
Bank Tax “Strictly Political”, but Popular
Op-Eds
Obama’s Bank-Busting Regulation Full of Bugs
President Obama’s proposal on Thursday to bring back 1930s-era separation of commercial and investment banking would do little to prevent the problem of financial…
Citation
Obama’s Glass-Steagal 2.0 Could Crash Financial System
Blog
Obama’s Glass-Steagall 2.0 could crash financial system
President Obama’s proposal today to bring back…
Op-Eds
Obama Plan to Split Banks Could Crash Economy
President Obama’s proposal today to bring back 1930s-like separation of commercial and investment banks, dubbed Glass-Steagall II or Glass-Steagall 2.0, would do…
Op-Eds
Crisis Management
One of the more confusing aspects of the great economic meltdown of 2008-09—even more confusing than collateralized debt obligations—has been the tortured…
News Release
Obama’s Glass-Steagall 2.0 Could Crash Financial System
President Obama’s proposal today to bring back 1930s-like separation of commercial and investment banks, dubbed Glass-Steagall II or Glass-Steagall 2.0, would do little to prevent…
Op-Eds
The Bank Tax and the Bay State
As the race for the late Ted Kennedy’s seat goes into the home stretch, financial-services policy has suddenly emerged as a top issue in…
Op-Eds
SarBox Might be Coming to an End
Prospects for substantial relief from or repeal of one of the most burdensome corporate regulations in recent memory have suddenly grown in Congress and…
Op-Eds
Obama’s Penalty Tax Could Hit Banks that Refused TARP Funds
President Obama’s so-called Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a tax in search of a target. Today, the president declared, “We want our…
Blog
Obama Bank “Responsibility Fee” Is Destructive, Hypocritical and Likely Unconstitutional
The so-called Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a tax in search of a target. Today, the President declared, “We want our money back.” Yet his…
Blog
Financial Crisis Hearing is Partisan Sham that Skips Over Fannie and Freddie’s Role
John Berlau, director of CEI’s Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, offers the following thoughts on what’s missing from the first hearing of the Financial Crisis…
Citation
House Panel Approves Ban On Retail Price-Fixing Deals
Citation
Sarbanes-Oxley: Albatross to Growth
Op-Eds
Financial Crisis Hearing Is Partisan Sham
Today marks the first-ever meeting of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which is charged with investigating the causes of the mortgage meltdown.
Op-Eds
Sarbanes-Oxley: Albatross to Growth
Many economists, policy makers, and members of Congress of both parties are questioning whether what is good for the Big Four accounting firms is…
Citation
Fed Should Let Interest Rates Rise
Citation
Tax Preparers Must Meet License Requirement
Citation
Reforms Bode Ill for Tax-Free Health Accounts
Credit Union Times
Payment Card Networks Under Assault
Blog
Health care bill’s hidden tax on pain relievers, Pedialyte, and prenatal vitamins
Blog
Obama Summit: President’s goals of more loans and more heavy-handed regulation in conflict
Statement of John Berlau, director, Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, Competitive Enterprise Institute: President Obama’s twin goals of more bank loans and more heavy-handed regulation…
Credit Union Times
Big PhRMA Payoff: Hidden Tax on Pedialyte, Prenatal Vitamins, and Pain Relievers
Blog
Tarp the TARP and give small biz relief from Sarbanes-Oxley and other burdensome regs
Statement of John Berlau, Director of CEI’s Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, on extending TARP for small business and on Rep. Barney Frank’s plans to…
The Wall Street Journal
Sarbanes-Oxley on Trial
Congress wants to wallop business with even more regulation in the wake of the financial panic, but perhaps the Members should pause on Monday and…
The Wall Street Journal
Al Gore Should Lose His ‘Oscar’ Due To ClimateGate
The Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court Set to Review Scope of Peek-a-boo Power
Study
Payment Card Networks Under Assault
How Capping Interchange Fees Will Hurt Consumers, Charities, Community Banks, and Credit Unions…
Southern Shift News
30 Million Small Businesses: The Army President Obama has yet to Deploy
Southern Shift News
Letter to the Editor: Retailers Want to Shift Their Costs onto Consumers
It’s a real pity that The Examiner’s Nov. 27 lead story – billed with the screaming front-page headline "Credit cards show no pity" –…
Letters
Federal Reserve Transparency Working Group Sends Letter to the Senate
Dear Members of the U.S. Senate: In the last two years, the Federal Reserve Board has lent several trillion dollars to banks…
Southern Shift News
Effort To Curb Financial Giants May Worry Markets Even More
Southern Shift News
Effort To Curb Financial Giants May Worry Markets Even More
Southern Shift News
DDT: The Silent Killer…Only When It Was Gone
Southern Shift News
DDT: The Silent Killer…Only When It Was Gone
News Release
Government Watchdog Finds Credit Card Price Controls Hurt Consumers
Today, the Government Accountability Office released its widely anticipated report on interchange fees—the fees that retailers pay to credit and debit card issuers for processing…
Blog
Reps. Maloney and Adler push true bipartisan stimulus — Sarbanes-Oxley relief
After months of talk about solutions that would rev up job growth and the economy, today the House Financial Service Committee may finally adopt a…
Southern Shift News
“Gifted Hands” Surgeon Rips into Obamacare
As the Senate Finance Committee completed its work on a bill that would greatly expand the government’s role in health care – requiring nearly…
News Release
Unemployment Report, Real Solutions
Today's unemployment report showed the U.S. jobless rate reaching 9.8 percent, the highest since 1983. And although unemployment is referred to as a "lagging indicator"…
Southern Shift News
Don’t Let 7-11 Give Card Users a “Big Gulp” of Big Govt
If Congress acts on 7-Eleven's misleading petition to put price controls on interchange fees, consumers will pay the price through the reduction of credit card…
Southern Shift News
Retailers Shortchange Customers in Credit-Card Fee Fight
Today, 7-Eleven Inc. and other big retail chains will hit Capitol Hill to offer Congress members and their staffs a supersize serving of hypocrisy.
Southern Shift News
Retailers Shortchange Customers in Credit-Card Fee Fight
7- Eleven and other retailers, who rightly complain about costly government mandates in health care and other areas, are hitting Capitol Hill…
Blog
7-Eleven serves up Big Gulp of Big Government to credit card consumers
Tomorrow, 7-Eleven Inc. and other big retail chains will hit Capitol Hill to offer Congress members and their staffs a supersize serving of hypocrisy. Retailers,…
News Release
Don’t Let 7-Eleven Give Card Holders a “Big Gulp” of Big Government
On Wednesday, 7-Eleven Inc. and other big retail chains will call on Congress to slap price controls on the interchange fees they pay to banks…
Washington Times
Solutions: How to Reduce Unemployment
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke recently said the recession is probably over, as third-quarter growth in gross domestic product will likely be positive. But…
Washington Times
Meryl’s Mad Green Meanderings about Julia
In the new movie "Julie & Julia," Meryl Streep does well portraying the late Julia Child, but one can say Streep also benefits from…
Blog
Obama scolds Wall Street, but targets Main Street with regs
One year after the Wall Street meltdown, President Obama…
News Release
Berlau in New York Times on Overdraft Fees from Debit Cards – with Misleading Headline
John Berlau, Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, was a guest contributor this week to the New York…
Washington Times
Meryl Streep’s Attack on Julia Child Ironic, Ungrateful
In the new movie “Julie & Julia,” Meryl Streep does well portraying the late Julia Child, but one can say Streep also benefits from…
Blog
Meryl trash talks Julia on pesticides and fat
In the new movie “Julie & Julia,” Meryl Streep does well portraying the late Julia Child, but one can say Streep also benefits from her subject. …
Washington Times
The BofA Bonus Show
Salon.com
Ted Kennedy… the Deregulator?
Salon.com
Kennedy’s Lasting Gift to America: Airline Deregulation
Tributes are pouring in for Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy, who lost his battle with brain cancer late Tuesday evening at the age of 77.
Blog
Ted Kennedy’s Deregulatory Legacy on Airlines and Trucking
Tributes are pouring in for Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, who lost his battle with brain cancer late Tuesday evening at the age of 77.
News Release
Kennedy Left Deregulation Legacy on Airlines and Trucking
Salon.com
Don’t Ban but Expand Them
In proposing his new financial regulations this summer, President Obama pledged to get tough on the big Wall Street banks whose risky practices are…
Blog
UBS Deal Only a Partial Victory for the Feds
Today, after a long and protracted battle between the U.S. and Swiss government, Swiss bank UBS AG agreed to turn over the names of at…
Salon.com
U.S. Swiss Bank Deal a Partial Victory for Financial Privacy
After a long and protracted battle between the United States and Swiss governments, Swiss bank UBS AG has agreed to turn over 4,000 names…
News Release
UBS Settlement Only a Partial Victory for the Feds
The following is the statement of John Berlau, Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in reaction to…
Comment
Letter to Securities and Exchange Commission: Reforming Shareholder Director Nominations
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to submit comments on the proposed rule governing shareholder nominations of corporate directors on behalf of the…
Blog
UBS-IRS deal — U.S. Constitutional liberties, privacy rights at risk after Obama bullies the Swiss
Lawyers for the U.S. government and the Swiss bank UBS AG have announced that they have reached a deal…
Salon.com
Swiss Bank to Reveal Account Holders to U.S.
Lawyers for the United States government and the Swiss bank UBS AG have announced that they have reached a deal on releasing to the…
News Release
Federal Officials Reach Bank Privacy Agreement with UBS
Statement of John Berlau, director of the Center for Investor and Entrepreneurs at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, on a reported deal between the United States…
Salon.com
Obama Should Stay Mum on Cambridge Arrest
One lingering question surrounding the recent arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. by the Cambridge (Mass.) Police and the subsequent White House “beer summit”…
Salon.com
Prof. Gates’ Arrest Unjustified
Blog
Bonus pay bill: CBO predicts huge costs to private sector, broad swaths of employees affected
After the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculated the enormous costs of an all-encompassing health care scheme with a bloated public option, members of Congress…
Blog
Prof. Gates’ property rights likely violated in arrest — but Obama was wrong to weigh in
Amid all the endless media psychobabble about “national conversations” and “teachable moments” – and we will no doubt here more of this in the reporting of…
Salon.com
Holding Paulson Accountable For This Mess
As much as conservatives criticize President Obama, legitimately in my view, for federal meddling in business and dictating who should serve on the auto…
Salon.com
Hank Greenberg’s Home Run Against AIG and Its Big Government
Once again, the team of politicians and corporate bureaucrats pursuing the witchhunt against former American International Group CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg have struck out.
Blog
Ex-CEO Hank Greenberg hits home run against AIG and Spitzer
Once again, the team of politicians and corporate bureaucrats pursuing the witchhunt against former American International Group CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg have struck out.
News Release
Hank Greenberg Wins One in Court, Hits Homerun against AIG and Spitzer
Washington, D.C., July 7, 2009—A federal jury today found in favor of ousted AIG Chairman Hank Greenberg today, in a case brought by the company…
Salon.com
Sink Schumer’s dangerous ‘Shareholder Bill of Rights’: It’s micromanaging madness
If deceptive labeling of bills in Congress were punishable by government agencies, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Maria…
Blog
Goodbye, Mary Lou: Tribute to a great journalist and editor
Salon.com
Standing Athwart Nationalization
My organization, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has frequently been accused of being "in denial" regarding important issues. It’s a charge we most often wear…
Salon.com
Case of Denial
Salon.com
Nationalization Review
Given the Obama administration’s rapid takeovers of General Motors and Chrysler, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to conservatives that, in the…
Blog
Schumer and Cantwell’s deceptive advertising on shareholder “rights.”
If deceptive labeling of bills in Congess were punishable by regulatory agencies, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) would be paying a hefty…
Blog
Cheers for Indiana Treasurer’s halt to Chrysler Bankruptcy
The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock stand up against the Obama administration’s nationalization scheme.
News Release
CEI Praises Appeals Court for Halting Chrysler Bankruptcy
Kudos to the judges on the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for putting a stay on the Obama administration’s nationalization scheme for the bankruptcy…
Blog
Bankruptcy judge should put breaks on “Government Motors”
President Obama and his auto task force should respect the role of the bankruptcy court and recognize that its role is not to rubber stamp…
News Release
Obama Should Respect Role of Bankruptcy Court, Judge Should Put Brakes on Government Motors
Washington, D.C. June 1, 2009—Statement by John Berlau, Director of CEI’s Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs: Last week, in nominating Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the…
Salon.com
Someone Has to Pay the Piper
As the cliché goes, the piper must be paid. And when the government decides that some folks are paying the piper too much,…
Blog
Sotomayor NOT first Hispanic Justice — Cardozo was
News Release
New Credit Card Law Limits Consumer Choice, Leads to Less Credit, Higher Rates
Today President Obama signed a major new law regulating the credit card industry, a move that will likely hurt consumers. John Berlau, Director of CEI’s…
News Release
Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Sarbanes-Oxley Accounting Board
The Supreme Court today announced it would hear a case brought by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Free Enterprise Fund challenging the constitutionality of…
Blog
Chrysler bankruptcy an opportunity to reject Obama nationalization
Is 48 hours enough time to save Chrysler from being nationalized?…
News Release
“Credit Card Bill of Rights” Passed Today by the U.S. House of Representatives
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Salon.com
GM vs. GGP: Bankruptcy the Way It Ought to Be
On the surface, given the economic turmoil we’ve had, there was nothing that remarkable about the bankruptcy of shopping mall owner General…
Salon.com
Dodd to revise CARD proposal
Blog
General Growth Properties (GGP) — Bankruptcy the way it ought to be
On the surface, given the economic turmoil we’ve had, there was nothing that remarkable about the bankruptcy of shopping mall owner General Growth Properties (GGP).
Blog
Obama credit card meeting — should meet with economists instead
Instead of meeting with the executives of credit card issuers and sactimoniously lecturing them about not raising rates, as he is doing…
Salon.com
AIG head’s $3M in Goldman stock raises apparent conflict of interest
“It’s not much of a stretch to say that under Liddy’s tenure, the company’s and taxpayers’ money has been looted to pay off AIG’s business…
Blog
Stop Thief! NYT steals Examiner’s AIG scoop with no attribution
One week after Washington Examiner ace investigative reporter Timothy P. Carney broke the blockbuster story reporting that American International Group’s post-bailout CEO Edward Liddy…
Blog
AIG CEO Liddy owns millions in stock in bailout beneficiary Goldman — Tim Carney blockbuster in DC Examiner
Everyone should read the blockbuster exclusive in today's Washington Examiner in which Timothy P. Carney confirms that AIG CEO Edward Liddystill owns more than $3…