Blog
CFPBs Prepaid Debit Card Rules Will Harm Low-Income Consumers
Today’s action by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue unprecedented burdens on providers of prepaid debit cards shows why the bureau needs to be held…
National Review
Obama’s Peanut-Brained Attack on MetLife
This article was originally published at the National Review on November 6, 2014. One day while sitting on the roof of his doghouse, Snoopy supposedly…
Forbes
Regulatory Barriers Are Holding Back Investing And Lending Opportunities For Crowdfunding
This article was originally published at Forbes on October 24, 2014 In a recent Forbes column on the costs of regulation, my Competitive…
Blog
The Economist: Interchange Fee Caps Benefit Large Retailers at Consumer Expense
Surprise! Price controls lead to unintended consequences—including transfers of wealth to parties who lobbied for those controls. That’s the actual – and unsurprising – result…
Blog
See Me at San Francisco Crowdfund Banking and Lending Summit
My colleague Wayne Crews’ Forbes column Monday explained “How Entrepreneurs Can Speak Out About the Cost of Regulation,” but noted sadly that “businesses that never form…
Washington Examiner
Fannie, Freddie Investors Undaunted by Court Loss
A representative of Fairholme Funds, one of the activist hedge funds that brought the lawsuits in both the District and Federal Claims courts, told the…
One News Now
Mobile Checking a “Scheme” or Good for Competition?
John Berlau discusses mobile checking with One News Now: "This week, an article in Salon calls it a scheme to prey on America's…
Blog
For Fannie and Freddie Reform, Transparency Is a Must
National Review
Dodd-Frank Will Cripple American Energy
The two recent federal court decisions on Obamacare subsidies — one for, one against — prompted fevered reactions and discussion. By contrast, two recent rulings…
Providence Journal
Disastrous Application of Dodd-Frank Law to Insurance Company
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), an unaccountable, secretive task force of financial bureaucrats created by the Dodd-Frank “financial reform” act of 2010, has decided…
Letters
Letter to House Financial Services Subcommittee on Rights of Private Shareholders
View the Full Letter Here The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), in a coalition of 17 conservative and free-market public policy leaders, sent…
Blog
You’re a SIFI, Charlie Brown
“Good grief!” That’s what the Charlie Brown, star of comic strip Peanuts and cartoon spokesman for the MetLife insurance firm, might say about the government’s…
Newsmax
Oversight Council Declares MetLife Too Big to Fail
“Good grief!” That’s what Charlie Brown, star of comic strip Peanuts and cartoon spokesman for the MetLife insurance firm, might say about the government’s actions…
Products
Eric Holder Avenges Investor Fraud by Taking from Victimized Investors
The Daily Caller
Eric Holder Avenges Investor Fraud By Taking From Victimized Investors
“Bank of America failed to make accurate and complete disclosure to investors and its illegal conduct kept investors in the dark,” declared a government official…
Blog
Eric Holder Avenges Investor Fraud by Taking from Defrauded Investors
“Bank of America failed to make accurate and complete disclosure to investors and its illegal conduct kept investors in the dark,” declared a government official…
Newsmax
Govt Meddling Creates Auto Loan Mess
Should we worry about a crisis in subprime auto loans? That question has been asked in the financial media lately. As I said recently…
Forbes
SEC Crowdfunding Barriers At South By Southwest
In mid-July, South by Southwest (SXSW) – the Austin-based yearly festival that brings together the creators of film, music and technology every March – trekked…
Products
Dodd-Frank is the new ObamaCare
“If you like your life, home, and auto insurance, you can keep them.” No, President Obama didn’t utter those words when he signed the Dodd-Frank…
Blog
Subprime Auto Concerns Caused by Government Intervention
Should we worry about a crisis in subprime auto loans? That question has been asked in the financial media lately. My answer is yes, with…
The Washington Examiner
Big Ideas: On Dodd-Frank,
As with Obamacare, unintended consequences of [the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law] almost immediately began to surface. First, there was a sharp reduction in free…
The National Review
Dodd-Frank Is Like Obamacare
"If you like your life, home, and auto insurance, you can keep them.” President Obama didn’t make this promise when he signed into law the…
Blog
Dodd-Frank Is Obamacare for Non-Health Insurance
“If you like your life, home, and auto insurance, you can keep them.” President Obama didn’t make this promise when he signed into law the…
Blog
Alito’s Excellent Defense of “Corporate Personhood” in Hobby Lobby
The groundbreaking decision today in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, in which the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Obamacare’s contraception mandate violates the religious freedom of two closely…
The Blaze
Obama Admin. Is Getting Grilled About a Massive Mortgage Database That Could Be Used for Criminal Investigations
Defying conventional wisdom as he often does, Pulitzer Prize-winning pundit (and fellow Newsmax Insider) George F. Will disputed the notion that in the wake of…
Blog
Cantor’s Loss a Warning Shot to Supporters of Ex-Im Bank and Johnson-Crapo
Defying conventional wisdom as he often does, Pulitzer prize-winning pundit George F. Will disputed the notion that in the wake of the shocking primary loss…
Newsmax
CEI’s John Berlau: US Needs ‘Rational’ Immigration Program
Newsmax insider John Berlau, Newsmax insider and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Newsmax on Monday he feels the wave of undocumented children…
Newsmax
In Honor of Maya Angelou, Herb Jeffries
Blog
Maya Angelou, Herb Jeffries, and the Freedom to Prosper
Competitive Enterprise Institute President Lawson Bader has said, "What CEI does, on a daily basis and at its core, is to celebrate and defend…
Blog
Dodd-Frank’s Durbin Amendment Drives Up Costs on Memorial Day and Every Day
Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Big Retail lobby created a dubious driving distraction. The Merchants Payments Coalition, whose members include retail giants like Walmart and…
News Busters
Google Honors Radical Environmentalist Rachel Carson on Her Birthday
John Berlau, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, explained DDT was actually used to preserve lives. He outlined in his book “Eco-Freaks” several positive…
One News Now
GM In Heavy Case Over Faulty Ignition Switches
Earlier this year, Toyota agreed to a $1.2 billion settlement with the Justice Department in a criminal probe over the company's recall of Toyota…
Money News
Johnson-Crapo Bill Furthers Govt Housing Mess
Yesterday, after delays and much opposition from many quarters on different grounds, the Johnson-Crapo housing finance overhaul cleared the Senate Banking Committee. The vote was…
Blog
Johnson-Crapo Is Fannie and Freddie on Steroids
Today, after delays and much opposition from many quarters on different grounds, the Johnson-Crapo housing finance overhaul is set to be voted on by the…
Blog
Johnson-Crapo Delayed; CEI-Coordinated Coalition Letter Cited as a Factor
Today, in a surprise move, the Senate Banking Committee postponed the vote it had been set to mark up for Johnson-Crapo. Reports vary as…
The National Review
Fannie and Freddie on Steroids
A corollary to Shakespeare’s adage “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is that “garbage by any other name would smell as…
Letters
Johnson-Crapo Coalition Letter
Politico
White House Calls in the Deans — China Growth Slows — Bloomberg Says He’s Going to Heaven
COURT MOVES AGAINST PART OF DODD-FRANK — CEI’s John Berlau: “[The recent] ruling of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that Dodd-Frank’s ‘conflict minerals’ disclosure…
Blog
First Ever Constitutional Ruling against Dodd-Frank Voids Destructive “Conflict Minerals” Section
Today’s ruling of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that Dodd-Frank’s "conflict minerals" disclosure mandate violates the First Amendment is the first time ever a court has…
The American Spectator
Praying for an Obamacare Escape
Matt Drudge’s widely discussed mid-March tweet that he has already paid Obamacare’s “liberty tax” highlights the uncertainties the self-employed face both from the health care…
Newsmax
Dodd-Frank Reined In by Democratic Judges
As the late March weather alternates between winter and spring, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today blew a nice cool breeze of common sense.
Blog
How Matt Drudge (and Other Obamacare Victims) Can Escape the “Liberty Tax”
Former Competitive Enterprise Institute Research Associate Michael Mayfield provided invaluable assistance with this post. Matt Drudge's widely discussed…
Blog
Draconian Dodd-Frank Durbin Debit Controls Need Not Be More Destructive, Court Rules
As the weather finally turns to spring, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today blew a nice cool breeze of common sense. A bipartisan three-judge…
Blog
Johnson-Crapo Is Phony Fannie-Freddie Reform
Ever since the phrase appeared in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," and its variations, have…
Newsmax
George Washington Was a Founding CEO
Blog
Obama and Camp’s “Carried Interest” Canard Adds Cost and Complexity to Code
Once again, according to a White House summary of his 2015 budget to be unveiled later today, President Obama will call for "closing loopholes"…
National Review
Postal Service Banking
Blog
GW’s Entrepreneurship and Crowdfunding Barriers to Today’s Revolutionary Entrepreneurs
Happy Washington’s birthday, everyone! Although the holiday was on Monday, George Washington’s actual date of birth is tomorrow, February 22, in the year 1732. And…
National Review
Birthday of an Entrepreneur
New York Post
Obama Makes Up His Own Rules
Blog
No Obamaloans at the Post Office!
While Sen. Elizabeth Warren may proudly brand herself a populist, in her latest crusade, she is casting her lot with fat cats. Warren wants to…
Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal
Proposed SEC Rules On Crowdfunding Threaten Access To Capital By Locking Out Ordinary Investors
In submitted comments, John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute argued that the proposed rules could result in “costly, paternalistic requirements on crowdfunding that have…
Crowdfund Insider
Troops Rallying For Smarter Rules Around Equity Crowdfunding
Comment
Comments to the SEC by John Berlau on Crowdfunding
In comments submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau warns that new SEC rules impacting crowdfunding could…
Blog
Target, Retailers Use Dodd-Frank to Skimp on Data Security
Chutzpah, thy name is the National Retail Federation! In the wake of the recent credit and debit card breach at Target that may have compromised…
Blog
“Wall Street” Regs Devastate Main Street Banks and Credit Unions
Again and again, when regulators implement a new Dodd-Frank regulation aimed at "Wall Street," it is Main Street banks and credit unions that are forced…
Newsmax
Auto Bailout Gives Away Chrysler
As 2014 opened, Detroit was bankrupt, but they were cheering the five-year-old U.S. auto bailout in Italy. That’s because after being the beneficiary of billions…
Investor's Business Daily
Taxpayers Losers In Fiat-Chrysler Deal
And for what? Yes, they kept a U.S. company in business. But now it's an Italian company. This prompted John Berlau, a senior fellow at…
Blog
The Great Italian Auto Bailout — Courtesy of U.S. Taxpayers
At the beginning of 2014, Detroit may be bankrupt, but they're cheering the five-year-old U.S. auto bailout in Italy. That's because after being the beneficiary…
Blog
Target Breach — Are Dodd-Frank “Swipe Fee” Price Controls to Blame?
Target wants you to know it is oh-so-sorry for any inconvenience its data SNAFU (as OpenMarket is a family blog, please look up the…
Daily Caller
The Volcker Rule is Obamacare for main street banks and their customers
You might think after the disastrous debut of HealthCare.gov and thousands of insurance cancellations, those who call themselves progressives might just have a little humility…
Blog
Volcker Rule Overshoots Wall Street to Hit Utah
You might think after the disastrous debut of HealthCare.gov and thousands of insurance cancellations, those who call themselves progressives might just have a little humility…
Newsmax
Volcker Rule Is Just More Red Tape
Blog
The Volcker Winter Storm — Bad Rule, Worse Implementation
On a snowy day in Washington, several federal agencies packed some mean regulatory snowballs that will most likely overshoot their supposed destination of Wall Street…
Daily Caller
Dodd-Frank enforcement agency puts Indian tribes in the crosshairs
Blog
Government “Study” on Internet Tax Hides Harmful Small Business Effects
Under presidents of both parties, the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy has produced quality independent studies on the harmful tax and regulatory burden on…
Daily Caller
Duffy protects privacy in the real world
Letters
Coalition Letter on Extension for Pay Ratio
Full Document Available in PDF The undersigned organizations, institutions, and nonprofits interested in fostering entrepreneurship represent hundreds of thousands of businesses, small…
Letters
Open Letter to House and Senate Republican Leadership: Preserve the Sequester
CEI has joined a coalition urging Congress to maintain the spending restraint established by the Budget Control Act of 2011(BCA). The BCA established limits on…
Blog
Twitter, the JOBS Act, and the Return to IPO Normalcy
The headline read that the company's initial public offering price is "high," and "so is its valuation." The accompanying story explained that the latest tech…
Forbes
Healthcare.gov Isn’t The Only Federal Website That’s Harming Consumers
Blog
Mel Watt Fails Taxpayer, Privacy, and Transparency Tests
Former Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., failed his procedural confirmation vote today to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the government housing entities Fannie…
Blog
Don’t Let FTC Shut Down Legit Credit Repair Services
Next to the infamous Healthcare.gov, the website that featured the most bugs of the last month was FTC.gov, the site of the Federal Trade Commission. During…
Study
Questions for Federal Reserve Nominee Janet Yellen
Full Document Available in PDF Janet Yellen is President Obama’s choice to succeed Ben Bernanke as the Federal Reserve Chair. Yellen is…
Daily Caller
‘Why now?’ Fitch’s downgrade threat raises questions
“My question is ‘Why now?’” John Berlau, an economist at the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “I just have…
Blog
Shut Down Fannie and Freddie Permanently
Cross-posted from Newsbusters.org “U.S. Government Shutdown Threatening Housing Recovery,” screams the Oct. 2 headline of a shutdown scare screed in Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Wade…
Blog
Twitter IPO a Vindication of Bipartisan JOBS Act
Almost two years ago, I wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed entitled, "Making It Legal to Tweet for Investors." In the op-ed, I described bipartisan bills…
Daily Caller
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accused of violating transparency law
“Just about every time they’re convening, it has to be open to the public . . . and when it’s not open to the public…
Blog
Mississippi Should Tell CFPB to “Stop Spying on Me”
The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is coming to Mississippi Wednesday and Thursday with a public forum on "access to information." A vital question for Mississippians to…
Human Events
Stand with Rand on Credit Union Freedom
This week, the nation’s credit unions, member-owned financial services groups, are taking their case to Capitol Hill. On many issues they face, conservatives and libertarians…
Blog
Paul and Udall Push Bipartisan Credit Union Business Lending Regulatory Reform
Today, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is launching its "Don't Tax Tuesday" in which credit unions and their supporters tweet members of Congress…
Credit Union Times
Flawed Durbin Ruling Boosts Fed’s Odds:
Since U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued his shocking decision on July 31 that called for even more draconian price controls under…
Blog
Judge Leon’s Lawless Durbin Amendment Debit Card Decision
Since Judge Richard Leon issued his shocking decision on July 31 that called for even more draconian price controls under Dodd-Frank's Durbin Amendment, some legal commentators…
Blog
Not With Banks, Not With Retailers, But With Freedom
In explaining my policy positions, I often find myself pointing out I am neither pro-business nor pro-bank, but pro-market. My Competitive Enterprise Institute colleagues and I…
Blog
Court Wrong to Make Dodd-Frank Durbin Price Controls More Draconian
Today, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the Federal Reserve's implementation of the Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul, which sets price controls on…
Politico
Summers nomination fear: Market jitters – Has the economy already peaked? – Democrats blur line on tax policy
WSJ’s op-ed by Competitive Enterprise Institute’s John Berlau and Kyle Tassinari: “Here's some good financial news for millions of Americans: The provision in Dodd-Frank that imposed a…
Free Beacon
Harry Reid May Invoke Nuclear Option to Achieve Confirmation of Mel Watt
“Mel Watt’s career has been all about granting government goodies to big banks as well as his favored liberal constituencies,” said John Berlau, senior fellow…
Wall Street Journal
In Praise of Banking at Big-Box Stores
Cowritten by Research Associate Kyle Tassinari Here's some good financial news for millions of Americans: The provision in Dodd-Frank that imposed a three-year moratorium on…
Blog
On Dodd-Frank’s 3rd Anniversary, “North Star” is Further Out of Reach
Over the weekend, President Obama hailed the third anniversary of the enactment of the Dodd-Frank “financial reform.” In his weekly radio address, the president…
New Britain Herald
BUSINESS SCENE: Dodd-Frank bill not living up to expectaions
Others aren’t so sure. John Berlau, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said if the president wants to focus on the “north star” of…
Forbes
Why LeBron James Should Be Rooting Against ObamaCare
The sudden announcement of a one-year delay of the Obamacare employer mandate confirms the fear expressed even by the law’s supporters that implementation will be…
Blog
SEC Finally Permits Free Speech for Hedge Funds, VCs, and Entrepreneurs
Today is finally the day that the Securities and Exchange Commission -- one year and three months after it was instructed to do so by…
Newsmax
Free Speech Trumps SEC Advertising Ban
Wednesday was finally the day that the Securities and Exchange Commission — one year and three months after it was instructed to do so by…
Daily Caller
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau compared to NSA
“The CFPB is demanding mounds and mounds of data during the examination process of financial institutions, basically making the implicit threat that they either give…
Blog
More Recognition that Dodd-Frank Harms Main Street Banks, Farmers, and Airline Passengers
In two high-profile forums last week, Dodd-Frank, the financial "reform" law sold as targeting Wall Street, was shown to have a devastating effect on Main…
National Review
Dodd-Frank’s Early Returns
‘Admit it . . . you haven’t read it all either.” Thus said a New York Times op-ed (by Bono, of all people) about…
Investor's Business Daily
Online ‘Fairness’ Tax Could Hit Your 401(k)
Financial transaction tax proposals have prompted much debate over the past year, both in the U.S. and internationally. In February, the European Union proposed allowing…
Blog
Udall-Paul Legislation Spreads Freedom for Credit Unions and Entrepreneurs
By definition, if a bill is sponsored by Sens. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., or any similarly odd ideological couples in the House, it…
New York Times
This Week in Small Business: Small Data
Adam Liptak says this has been the most business-friendly Supreme Court since World War II. The Senate approves an online sales tax bill,…
Blog
How Online “Marketplace Fairness Act” Could Tax Your 401(k)
Today, the Senate likely will pass the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would force online retailers to collect sales taxes for states in which purchasers reside. Most have heard how this…