Blog
Gensler Fiddled with ESG and Power Grabs while FTX Burned
When asked on CNBC about the implosion of crypto exchange FTX, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler turned the focus away from the…
News Release
FTX Crypto Problems Reveal SEC Shortcomings, As Well: CEI Analysis
The current collapse of cryptocurrency company FTX has exposed another festering problem with how the industry is being regulated, says CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau:…
Blog
Reining in Biden CFPB’s “Junk” Policies with Fifth Circuit Ruling
When the federal Fifth Circuit Court Appeals ruled last week, in Community Financial Services v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that the funding structure of…
News Release
Biden Wrong About “Junk Fees” in Sweeping Government Mandate
Today the Biden administration announced a new whole-of-government initiative against “junk fees” from airlines, banking, and other industries. But what he is calling junk fees aren’t…
News Release
Court Rules CFPB Funding Structure Unconstitutional: CEI Statements
A Fifth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s unusual funding structure is unconstitutional, in a lawsuit brought by a small-dollar (payday)…
Blog
Excerpts from Austin Keynote: How CBDCs Could Be the New Operation Choke Point
This week, I attended the exciting INFiN MoneyTrends conference in Austin, where I gave the Regulatory Keynote address on Monday. The conference is a…
Blog
FTC Goes Back to Bad ‘70s Policies in Motor Vehicle Dealer Rule
Last night at CEI’s annual Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Dinner, CEI celebrated the 1970s—both the fashions and the deregulation toward the end of the…
Comment
Comments to the Federal Trade Commission Regarding the Motor Vehicle Dealers Trade Regulation Rule
Comment Submitted: September 12, 2022 Docket No. FTC-2022-0046-0001 On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit the following comments in response to…
Blog
Paternalistic FTC Rule Would Stifle Consumer Choice in Auto Market
As if American drivers didn’t face enough headwinds with high gas prices, supply chain constraints, and state rules that may force them out of…
Blog
Prominent Short Sellers Target ESG-themed Firms
For a long while, my CEI colleagues and I have touted the vital role that short sellers play in a free market economy. CEI Founder…
Blog
Why Carried Interest Tax Hike Deserves to Die in IRA and Otherwise
The Inflation Reduction Act (referred to by critics such as Phil Kerpen as the Income Reduction Act) will likely be voted on in the…
Wall Street Journal
The 20-Year Experiment Holding America Back
Many commentators these days, both progressive and conservative, decry a lack of opportunities for the American middle class, the concentration of certain industries under a…
Law & Liberty
A Declaration of Independence from the Administrative State?
At gatherings this July 4, there will likely be impassioned conversations about recent Supreme Court decisions. But it’s a ruling a few weeks ago from…
Blog
Defeat of Pot Banking Liberalization Will Lead to More Violent Crime and Reduced U.S. Competitiveness
It is beyond disappointing that Congress once again dropped the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act—bipartisan legislation that would prevent the federal government from…
CrowdFund Insider
Competitive Enterprise Institute Securities Expert on Crypto Legislation: “It will have many positive effects”
CrowdFund Insider cites CEI Senior Fellow and Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on crypto: Berlau, a senior fellow and Director…
InsideSources
Critics Get ‘Whiff of Racism’ in Progressive Attempts to Shut Down Tribal Lenders
InsideSources cites CEI Director of Financial Policy and Senior Fellow John Berlau on interest rates: John Berlau, Director of Finance Policy…
Blog
Crypto Volatility Heightens with Panic-Driven Regulation
In reaction to the volatile events of the last few weeks, both the stock and cryptocurrency markets have taken a deep dive. While this downturn…
News Release
Bipartisan Cryptocurrency Bill Takes Good Steps for American Innovation
Today, Senators Lummis and Gillibrand released their much anticipated bill on cryptocurrency regulation. CEI financial policy expert John Berlau praised aspects of the bill…
Blog
George Washington, George Jarkesy, and the Administrative State’s Lack of Fundamental Justice
The recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Jarkesy v. SEC is a victory for limited constitutional government…
Blog
Credit Union Liberalization Bill Clears Away Never-Needed Red Tape
When I testified last July at a high-profile hearing on financial inclusion, I urged members of the House Financial Services Committee to liberalize regulations…
Blog
CEI Joins Groups in Telling SEC to Stay Away from Private Markets
It’s bad enough that Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have made it so costly for smaller companies to go and stay public…
Blog
Lisa Cook’s First Amendment Problem Should Concern Senators
As early as Tuesday, the U.S. Senate could vote on the nomination of Lisa Cook to be a governor of the Federal Reserve, along with…
Comment
Joint Comments on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Incursion into Private Markets.
RE: Private Fund Advisers; Documentation of Registered Investment Adviser Compliance Reviews (SEC Release Nos. IA-5955; File No. S7-03-22) Dear Ms. Countryman: The undersigned organizations appreciate…
Blog
My Response to the CFPB’s “Junky” Regulatory Inquiry on Fees
In response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) “request for information” on what its Director Rohit Chopra has labeled as “junk fees” on financial…
FOX Business
Biden Administration Moves on Taxing, Regulating Cryptocurrency
FOX Business cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on the Biden Administration’s recent moves to tax cryptocurrency: Thanks to a provision in the…
Comment
Comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on its Request for Information on “Junk Fees”
Dear Director Chopra: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit the following comments in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s…
The Washington Times
Evictions on the Rise but Lawsuits, Nonpaying Tenants Still Vex the Rental Housing Market
The Washington Times cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on the effects of landlords being unable to enforce contracts and rules:…
Crowdfund Insider
JOBS Act of 2012: Ten Years of Legalized Investment Crowdfunding
Crowdfund Insider cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on outcome of the JOBS Act 10 years later: CI also spoke with John…
Blog
Celebrate Decade of JOBS Act as Deregulatory Success
10 years ago, a GOP-controlled House, a Democrat-controlled Senate, and a Democratic president came together to lighten the regulatory burden on America’s upstart job creators.
Blog
Why Cannabis Banking Liberalization Would Indeed Increase U.S. Competitiveness
As war continues in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, interest by policy makers and the media has spiked in competitiveness bills passed separately…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter on Durbin Amendment
Dear Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, Chairwoman Waters, and Ranking Member McHenry: The undersigned organizations write in opposition to any legislation that would expand or…
News Release
SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Will Cause Big Problems, CEI Experts Predict
Today the Securities and Exchange Commission described a new rule it plans to impose concerning climate disclosure requirements that may affect even private companies as…
Forbes
Yes, Cannabis Banking Liberalization — SAFE Banking Act — Would Indeed Make U.S. More Competitive
As war continues in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, interest by policymakers and the media has spiked in the America COMPETES Act, legislation…
News Release
After Bloom Raskin Withdrawal, Biden Should Nominate Someone Focused on Financial Stability, Monetary Policy
President Biden’s nominee to be Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew her nomination from consideration today, after it became clear that…
USA Today
What Did Biden Get Wrong on Crypto? His New Order Threatens to Smother Innovation
President Joe Biden released an executive order Wednesday that could curtail opportunities that cryptocurrency provides for economic advancement, notwithstanding the order’s hopeful tone about…
News Release
CEI Statement: Biden Executive Order to Target Crypto for Regulation
The White House is set to release an executive order today regulating cryptocurrency. CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau expressed concerns about the order and the…
The Washington Times
What Would George Washington Have Done?
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on his book, George Washington, Entrepreneur: John Berlau has just written a most interesting…
Blog
George Washington, Larry David, Cryptocurrency, and Freedom
One of the most talked-about Super Bowl ads was that of Larry David traveling through history and naysaying innovations that turned out to be hugely…
Blog
Lisa Cook’s First Amendment Problem
Today, the Senate Banking Committee is set to vote on five nominations for the Federal Reserve Board. My CEI colleague Myron Ebell and I have…
The Epoch Times
President George Washington: America’s ‘First Entrepreneur’
The Epoch Times cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on President George Washington: Private enterprises he founded had an effect on…
Blog
New Mexico Should Reject Interest Rate Limit Base on Federal Mismeasurement
There is an old saying that “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” It has…
News Release
CEI Joins AEA in Opposing Sarah Bloom Raskin’s Nomination to Federal Reserve
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) signed onto a letter by the American Energy Alliance (AEA) opposing the White House’s nomination of Sarah Bloom…
Letters
Coalition Letter Opposing Sarah Bloom Raskin’s Nomination to Federal Reserve
Dear Chairman Brown and Ranking Member Toomey, As public policy groups who fight for free markets, sound science, and affordable energy, we write in opposition…
Blog
CFPB’s Dodd-Frank Race and Gender Data Collection Mandates Will Harm Financial Inclusion
In mid-2020, on the 10th anniversary of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul being rammed through Congress and signed by then-President Obama, I catalogued the damage…
The Washington Times
Experts Say More Americans Will Face Debt, Credit Card Delinquency This Year
The Washington Times cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on the consequences of lockdowns: John Berlau, director of finance policy…
Comment
Comments to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Small Business Lending Data Collection By Race and Gender
Dear Mr. Chopra, On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit the following comments in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s…
National Review
The Fight for the FDIC
While the downfall of “Build Back Better” has been getting a lot of attention, it was not the only Washington policy drama…
News Release
Biden Bank Regulator Nominee Withdraws Due to Bipartisan Opposition
President Biden’s pick for Comptroller of the Currency withdrew today after critics, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute, exposed her many statements sympathetic to communism. CEI…
Law & Liberty
What’s in Your Wallet?
To help foot the bill for the “Build Back Better” budget reconciliation bill—originally slated to cost $3.5 trillion—the Biden administration proposed an unprecedented measure for…
The Epoch Times
Bank Regulator Nominee Tries to Detach From Her Bank Centralization Ideas During Hearing
The Epoch Times cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on a recent statement by Saule Omarova. John Berlau, senior fellow at the free-market…