News Release
Biden DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Visa unfounded
The Biden Justice Department today announced an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, alleging the company illegally monopolized the debit card market by enticing merchants away…
News Release
Fed reduces interest rates by 50 basis points: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve today cut interest rates by 50 basis points, the first rate reduction in over two years. CEI experts give their…
Blog
DOJ’s flawed case against AI’s incredible rent machine
In Tom Smith and The Incredible Bread Machine, the famous political poem about an inventor at first hailed for his machine that slashes…
Blog
Hey Fed! Don’t worsen devastating Durbin debit card price controls
Consumers using their debit and credit cards just can’t catch a break these days from politicians, bureaucrats, and big retailers pushing Big Government ripoffs.
News Release
Biden DOJ prosecution of RealPage will undermine multifamily housing supply and affordability
The Biden Justice Department along with 8 state attorneys general on August 23 announced a lawsuit against real estate software company RealPage, accusing the…
Forbes
‘Strategic Bitcoin Reserve’ Plans Warrant Caution
At the recent Bitcoin Bitcoin -1.1% 2024 conference in Nashville, speakers proposed many good policies to tame the federal government’s regulatory…
Home Equity Lending News
Presidential Election Could Determine Fate of Freddie CES
Home Equity Lending News cited CEI on FHFA’s home-equity program “Government agencies are always looking for a way to expand their role,” says…
Do candidates follow through on economic promises if elected?
The Marketplace cited CEI on economic promises. Listen to more at The Marketplace…
Comment
CEI Comments on CFTC Event Contracts Rule Banning Election Betting Markets
Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I appreciate the opportunity to submit comments on RIN 3038-AF14, which concerns…
National Review
Biden-Harris CFTC Bets It Can Ban Election Wagering
If you’re following the ever-changing news about the 2024 election, you’re probably hearing a lot about odds: Betting odds on who will be the president,…
Review-Journal
EDITORIAL: Increasingly desperate Biden steps up the pandering
Review-Journal cited CEI on deregulation of rent control initiative “Getting rid of regulatory barriers … will increase supply and lower cost for homeownership…
News Release
Biden Rent Control Idea is Bad Housing Policy
President Biden today issued a call to impose federal limits on rent increases nationwide. That idea would have many drawbacks, not just for…
Decrypt
Republicans Likely to Follow Through With Pro-Crypto Agenda, Experts Say
Decrypt cited CEI on crypto currency While the details of the next era of crypto regulation remain to be seen, elected officials…
News Release
Supreme Court curtails SEC administrative law court powers
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that a hedge fund manager accused of securities fraud is entitled to a jury trial because the Securities…
Blog
CEI comments opposing destructive anti-merger rules from troubled FDIC
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has been the subject of recent hearings and news reports regarding findings of a toxic workplace atmosphere…
Comment
Request for Comment on Proposed Statement of Policy on Bank Merger
To Whom It May Concern: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit the following comments in response to the…
Blog
Freddie Mac second mortgage funding could foment financial crisis
The 2008 mortgage meltdown and financial crisis never fails to be invoked whenever there is any pushback to excessive financial regulation. Progressives regularly bring…
Study
Adam Smith’s guide to life, loveliness, and the modern economy
Introduction: Going strong at 300 Ryan Young This essay collection celebrates Adam Smith’s 300th birthday. He is best known for being the first…
News Release
Supreme Court Disappoints on Funding/Powers Question in Ruling in CFPB Case
The Supreme Court today issued a disappointing ruling in CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America, a lawsuit challenging the unchecked funding…
Comment
CEI comments opposing the worsening of Durbin Amendment debit card price controls
Re: Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing (Docket No. R–1818, RIN 7100-AG67) Dear Ms. Misback: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
How SAFER Banking Act poses new dangers to marijuana and other legal industries
Marijuana has been in the news lately, and the news seems to be overwhelmingly favorable to the industry in terms of reducing uncertainty as…
Blog
Small banks targeted as FDIC cracks down on technology partnerships
Earlier this week, Politico’s “Morning Money” column reported an astonishing finding that almost certainly points to politicization in enforcement by federal bank regulators.
News Release
CEI praises measure to overturn CFPB’s destructive price controls on credit card late fees
On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee is expected to approve a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) to…
American Institute for Economic Research
Biden Redoubles Effort to Crush Crypto With EIA’s Mining Survey
The Biden administration has launched yet another attack against the cryptocurrency industry–an environmental impact “survey” to bolster a politically motivated attack on the crypto…
American Institute for Economic Research
Biden Redoubles Effort to Crush Crypto With EIA’s Mining Survey
The Biden administration has launched yet another attack against the cryptocurrency industry–an environmental impact “survey” to bolster a politically motivated attack on the crypto…
National Review
Critics of Capital One–Discover Merger Are Missing the Elephants
Politico
Bank exec crackdown fades post-SVB
CEI’s John Berlau is cited in Politico regarding the exec crackdown’s subsiding: The free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute led a letter to Congress…
News Release
CFPB Price Controls on Late Fees Mean Less Credit, Higher Costs for Cardholders
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule on credit card late fees that would do far more harm than good,…
DC Journal
Economists, Free Market Groups Urge Congress to Reject RECOUP Act
CEI’s John Berlau is cited in DC Journal on outside groups to reject the RECOUP Act: That’s the concern of John Berlau with…
News Release
Coalition Warns Against RECOUP Act that Gives Vast Powers to Banking Regulators
The Competitive Enterprise Institute and Americans for Tax Reform today led a coalition letter to congressional leaders opposing the RECOUP Act. CEI’s John Berlau…
Letters
CEI Leads Letter Rejecting Recoup Act
Dear Speaker Johnson, Minority Leader Jeffries, Majority Leader Schumer, and Minority Leader McConnell: As leaders of policy groups concerned with constitutional liberties, government…
Washington Examiner
Capital One merger could make Discover a rival to the largest credit cards in payments
CEI’s John Berlau is cited in the Washington Examiner on the credit-card merger: “Discover is currently in fourth place in card network size,…
Fox Business
How Capital One’s acquisition of Discover could impact consumers
CEI’s John Berlau is cited in Fox Business on the acquisition: John Berlau, director of finance policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI),…
News Release
Capital One/Discover Merger Not a Threat to Competition, Overregulation Is
The proposed merger between Capital One and Discover is not a threat to competition in the credit market, but there is one big looming…
Blog
George Washington’s marvelous list of liberties and grievances
On the federal holiday on Monday and on his real birthday on Thursday, February 22, we celebrate the 292nd birthday of our nation’s first…
Blog
CFPB Data Breach Shows Danger of its Attempted Power Grab Over Fintech
My friend Patrick Brenner, president of regional free-market think tank the Southwest Public Policy Institute, recently had a great op-ed at FoxNews.com on…
North State Journal
NC attorney general wants cash apps regulated by CFPB
CEI’s John Berlau is cited on the North State Journal on CFPB regulations in North Carolina: John Berlau, senior fellow and Director…
News Release
CFPB Overdraft Proposal Would Harm Consumers
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – as part of the Biden administration’s whole-of-government crusade against “junk fees” – unveiled a proposed rule…
Blog
Don’t make crypto the electricity scapegoat
A radical new tax proposed by the Biden administration would make cryptocurrency mining the scapegoat for electricity usage. The so-called Digital Asset Mining Energy…
Study
Don’t Depower Crypto
Introduction In President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget blueprint,1 the president proposed a new tax aimed at the electricity use caused by cryptocurrency mining.
News Release
Report: Energy Tax Targeting Crypto Industry – Bad Idea for a New Year
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report investigates whether the energy usage of certain cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin merits a targeted electricity tax on the…
The Hill
Don’t hand a blank check to a troubled FDIC
When shocking reports surfaced recently of discrimination, harassment and a toxic workplace culture at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, members of both…
Blog
FTC replies to CEI in auto dealer rule, still full of hot, nitrogen-poor air
This week, the Federal Trade Commission issued its long-awaited, nearly-400 page nannyist final rule on auto and other motor vehicle dealers sales. The…
Blog
Central banks are watching. Let’s watch them back.
One of the biggest dangers of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), I and others have warned, is that it would give a government…
Blog
Gensler SEC’s PDA rule would keep investors in the dark
Hailing one of his new mandates on entrepreneurs and investors, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler proclaimed, “In today’s fast-moving financial markets, it’s important that…
Fox Business
Biden called upon by pro-growth groups to withdraw CFPB’s late fees rule
CEI’s John Berlau is cited by Fox Business outlining the CFPB’s late fees rule: John Berlau, senior fellow and director of finance…
Comment
Conflicts of Interest Associated with the Use of Predictive Data Analytics by Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers
October 10, 2023 Docket ID: Release Nos. 34-97990, IA-6353, File No. S7-12-23 To the Honorable Gary Gensler, Chair of the Securities and…
News Release
A Supreme Court ruling against CFPB would benefit consumers: CEI analysis
Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in CFPB v. CFSA, in which the Court will decide if the CFPB’s funding structure, which…
Washington Examiner
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried trial to start Tuesday in NYC
CEI’s John Berelau is cited by Washington Examiner on the FTX Trial: John Berlau, a senior fellow and director of finance policy at…
Blog
Bill banning Fed-controlled crypto a good first step, but Congress must do more for monetary freedom
On Wednesday, the US House Financial Services Committee is expected to vote on House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s ‘‘CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act,” aiming to…