Comment
Testimony on Examining Consumer Credit Access Concerns, New Products and Federal Regulations
CEI’s John Berlau testified before the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Berlau explains why reducing unnecessary regulatory barriers will increase competition for…
Blog
On Dodd-Frank’s Unhappy Anniversary, Main Street Suffers Most
The LIBOR rate-fixing controversy and JP Morgan's failed trades are all spun as reasons why we need Dodd-Frank, the so-called "financial reform" law that was…
Blog
Yes, President Obama, Howard Johnson “Built” Your Favorite Motels, And Private Equity Saved Them
Over the weekend, President Obama sent a message to all American entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs. The message was, "Nothing special about you!" At a campaign…
Forbes
You’re Wrong President Obama, Howard Johnson Built His Business
Over the weekend, President Obama sent a message to all American entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs. The message was, “Nothing special about you!” At a campaign…
Marietta Daily Journal
Strikes for swipes: Study finds debit-card fee cap could hurt economic recovery
From Michael J. Pallerino's article in The Marietta Daily Journal: “Banks can only shift so much of the costs to consumers,” said John…
Douglas County Sentinel
Federal Regulations Hurting Georgia and Local Banks
From Haisten Willis' article in The Douglas County Sentinel: Economist John Berlau, Senior Fellow for Finance and Access to Capital at the Competitive…
Study
Government Barriers to Georgia’s Growth
Full Document Available in PDF Few states have been hit as hard by the financial…
Douglas County Sentinel
Forget Jamie Dimon — Congress needs to look in the mirror
“Jamie Dimon gets kid-glove treatment from Senators,” the front-page headline in Politico screamed after the JPMorgan Chase CEO testified and was questioned by the Senate…
Blog
Jamie Dimon and the “Just Fine” Private Sector
It will be interesting to see how the Big Government punditocracy squares its doubling-down defense of President Obama's comments that "the private sector is…
Newsmax
H.R. 1909 Lifts Barriers to Small Loans
Last Friday’s dismal jobs number renewed the call for Congress to find common ground and “do something.” Unfortunately, the “something” that the punditocracy usually calls…
Letters
Coalition Letter on Consumer Debit Card Protection Act
Full Document Available in PDF To the Members of the United States Congress: You may have seen some recent reports, including in…
Blog
Stand with State Farm as it Stands with ALEC
Newsmax
Federal Regulations Should Draw as Much Scrutiny as Facebook IPO
Facebook’s fall following its much-hyped initial public offering has politicians scrambling for “solutions.” But were it not for politicians’ meddling, Facebook’s and other recent IPOs…
Newsmax
Facebook Shows Need For Smaller IPOs
When I wrote my blog here last Friday on the day of Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO), I praised the firm’s innovations but injected a…
Blog
Facebook’s Fall and the Post-Sarbanes-Oxley “Cheers IPOs”
How Over-Regulation is Robbing Investors of Wealth from Smaller IPOs When I wrote pieces here and at the Daily Caller late last week injecting a…
Blog
H.R. 1909 — Unfinished Free-Market Business to Lift Barriers to Lending
They said it couldn't be done. That Congress couldn't pass a bipartisan bill in an election year to help the economy. Particularly one that lessens…
Newsmax
Overregulation Shackles Next Facebook
Today, Facebook finally goes public with a market capitalization of $104 billion. Its initial public offering (IPO) is the capstone of its amazing ascent that…
Blog
Facebook, Overregulation, and the “Cheers IPOs”: Unshackling the Next Facebook and Its Investors
Whether or not a retail investor buys shares of Facebook when it finally goes public tomorrow -- and OpenMarket provides public policy, rather than investment,…
Blog
Why JPMorgan Chase’s Mark-to-Market Losses Don’t Bolster Case for Volcker Rule
There is much still to be known about the $2 billion in losses JPMorgan Chase is reporting due to a flawed hedging strategy. But this lack of…
Newsmax
Refinery Not a Well
From Chris Woodward’s article on OneNewsNow: John Berlau, senior fellow for finance and access to capital for the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) Center…
Newsmax
Lending Cap Is Unfair to Small Business
The recent viral video sensation “If I Wanted America to Fail” confirms that the regulatory state is a major focal point for the center-right…
Blog
Center-Right Coalition Calls For Credit Union Deregulation to Lift Lending
The recent viral video sensation "If I Wanted America to Fail" confirms that the regulatory state is a major focal point for the center-right…
Letters
Coalition Letter on the Small Business Lending Enhancement Act
Full Document Available in PDF As conservative, libertarian, and free-market organizations concerned about government regulatory overreach, we’re writing to you to urge…
Blog
My Weekend with Hitchens at NASCAR
Last weekend, there was a public memorial service at Cooper Union in New York to commemorate the voice of the late Christopher Hitchens. I…
Blog
Why Matt Taibbi’s Anti-JOBS Act Screed Couldn’t Suck Worse
I have had a range of reactions when reading Matt Taibbi's pieces in Rolling Stone. Most of the time, I vehemently shake my head, but quite a few times…
Newsmax
AM Briefing
From The Washington Post‘s ThinkTanked: Competitive Enterprise Institute’s John Berlau: A breather from regulations. (National Review)…
Newsmax
A Breather From Regulations
‘It’s so meager,” proclaimed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on March 9, the day after the House passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS)…
Newsmax
Entrepreneurs Win Half a Loaf With the JOBS Act
From Tim Carney’s column in The Washington Examiner: Crowdfunding is a way of financing a business venture without a financial intermediary or a…
Newsmax
How Senate Dems and Scott Brown Failed ‘Maxine Waters’ Test
Attention Senators! Test results are in. Time to announce who passed and failed “the Maxine Waters test of political moderation.” As I reported last week,…
Newsmax
The Hidden Flaw in the Bipartisan JOBS Act
From Michelle Hirsch’s article in The Fiscal Times: The bill has members of the business community cheering, calling it a first step in…
Newsmax
Goldman Sachs and the Free Market
John Berlau on Goldman Sachs and the Free Market…
Newsmax
Crowdfunding Legislation Both Panned and Praised
From Investor’s Business Daily and Yahoo! Finance: Business observers say there is growing and widespread enthusiasm in the U.S. to provide greater support…
Blog
Yes, the JOBS Act Will Create Jobs, Wealth, and Investor Freedom
Tomorrow, the Senate is expected to pass the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. The bill achieved cloture today by 76 votes, all but assuring…
Blog
ThinkProgress’ Schizophrenia on Crowdfunding and the JOBS Act
ThinkProgress, the blogging arm of the liberal Center for American Progress, is usually pretty good on enforcing the political left’s party line. But two of…
Newsmax
The JOBS Act and the Maxine Waters Test
Call it the Maxine Waters test of political moderation. Late last week, this test was failed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Majority…
Blog
JOBS Act would Create More than 10 million Jobs
At long last, some truth in advertising in Congress! Today, the U.S. House of Representative is poised to pass a bipartisan "jobs bill" that will…
Newsmax
Consumers Shouldn’t Bank on Savings From Debit Card Price Controls
Coauthored by Kelly McCutchen, President and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation The news that Bank of America is again testing new…
Legal Brief
Bulldog Investors v. Massachusetts
Full Document Available in PDF Under the regulation at issue here, journalists, academics, students and others who are not wealthy or financially…
Newsmax
Breitbart Forever Changed Political Activism
Blog
Breitbart the Fusionist Thinker: How the Activist and Tactician Promoted a Key Piece of Conservative Philosophy
Newsmax
Recounting George Washington’s Brilliant Entrepreneurship
February is an important month in the history of American commerce. In this month is the birthday of one of the country’s earliest business innovators…
Newsmax
The STOCK ACT and the SEC
Needless to say, it is a minority opinion that current insider-trading laws reach government information, or else there wouldn’t have been this much of a…
Comment
Testimony on Jobs Before House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade
Full Document Available in PDF Chairwoman Bono Mack, Ranking Member Butterfield, and members of thissubcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present…
Blog
The STOCK Act’s Muzzle and How to Fix it in Conference (Update)
My colleagues David Bier and Ryan Radia contributed to this post. Per the scenario in a previous post, it’s April 2012. You are a…
Blog
The STOCK Act’s Muzzle — How “Insider Trading” Bill Could Shut Down Grassroots Communication
It’s April 2012. You are a conscientious congressional staffer who still takes seriously the need to be a steward of taxpayers’ money. (Yes, I know…
News Release
Payday Loans Myths Punctured in New Report
Washington, D.C., February 6, 2012—So-called “payday loans” and other forms of non-bank , short-term credit are roundly vilified by many politicians and activists, including the…
Study
The 400 Percent Loan, the $36,000 Hotel Room, and the Unicorn
Is a $16 surcharge on a $100 product unfair, unjust, and “predatory”? Hardly anyone flinches, for instance, at a $16 “resort fee” on a $100…
Blog
Facebook Filing Blasts Obama-Bush Overregulation of Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank
In his letter to prospective shareholders in the middle of the 201-page "Form S-1" that Facebook filed yesterday afternoon to launch its much-anticipated initial…
Blog
Buffett’s Secretary, Romney’s Return, and the Crushing Double Taxation on Investment Income
There has been much waxing in the last few days about how unfair it supposedly is that Mitt Romney was taxed at around 15 percent.
Las Vegas Review Journal
Obama, Romney and Taxes
Las Vegas Review Journal
Romney and the Burden of Double Taxation
When Mitt Romney releases his tax returns, as he is expected to do on Tuesday, thousands of green eyeshades will pore over every line. One…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Columnist Wants Consumer Bureau to Be “Big Brother”
“Big Brother.” When commentators use that phrase to describe a government agency, it is most often not meant as a compliment. Rather, it is wielded…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Will Recess Appointment Handcuff Consumer Cop?
Blog
WaPo Columnist Calls for Cordray’s Consumer Bureau to be “Big Brother”
"Big Brother." When commentators use that phrase to describe a government agency, it is most often not meant as a compliment. Rather, it is wielded…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Obama’s Power Grab Sets Precedent Democrats Will Regret
What’s next? Appointing executive branch officials when the Senate is taking a lunch or bathroom break? In November 2007, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared…
Blog
Cordray Recess Appointment is Travesty for Government Accountability
News is just breaking that President Obama will today make a "recess" appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a powerful and…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Obama’s Cordray Play Won’t Advance CFPB
Blog
Dick Durbin’s Hypocritical Quest for “Honest Information’ on Bank Fees
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wants banks and credit unions to know that he's all about transparency and "honesty" in consumer fees. In his…
Blog
Memo to Gingrich: Credit Unions are Not GSEs
Let me begin this post with a disclaimer, of which many of our readers are already aware. The Competitive Enterprise Institute and OpenMarket.org do not…
Blog
On 10th Anniversary of Enron Collapse, Time for Sarbanes-Oxley to Go
Ten years ago today, Enron Corp. filed for bankruptcy. Today, with all of its dealings with banks, it would probably have been deemed "too big…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Enron Bankruptcy 10 Years Later: Before Bailouts Were Big
Las Vegas Review Journal
GOP Hopefuls, Administration on Same Page
Blog
Barney Frank’s Committee Rebukes Dodd-Frank Derivatives Rules
There are other factors at play, but has anyone noticed how much the stock market has surged since Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) announced he…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Republicans for Sarbanes-Oxley
Blog
Barney Frank’s Cognitive Dissonance on Liberties and Risk-Taking
Congress will certainly be different and, for the country, better with the absence of Rep. Barney Frank, who announced today he will not seek reelection.
Las Vegas Review Journal
Obamacare Sequesters Your Flex Account
Attention Joe and Jane Citizen! Concerned about the fiscal future of your country and your family? Then please step away for five minutes from the…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Bank Debit-Card Fees Under U.S. Justice Department Review
Blog
Obamacare Attacks Your Flex Account — Minimize Damage in 2013 by Doubling Up for 2012
Hey Joe and Jane Citizen, concerned about the future of your country and your family. Please step away for five minutes from the nonstop TV coverage…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Full Privatization of GM Cannot Come Soon Enough
Las Vegas Review Journal
Driving a Bad Bargain on GM Bailout
Blog
Fannie and Freddie’s Double Outrage — Millions in Bonuses and Subsidies for Millionaire Mortgages
Yesterday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on the granting of nearly $13 million in bonuses for executives of Fannie…
Letters
Coalition Letter Opposing $730,000 Conforming Loan Limits: Fannie-Freddie Subsidies for McMansions
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has signed a coalition letter with other individuals and public policy organizations opposing the expansion of government-backed mortgages for wealthy home-buyers.
Las Vegas Review Journal
Blame Transfer Day
Las Vegas Review Journal
Making It Legal to Tweet For Investors
‘Tweet for Jobs.” So says a section of Barack Obama’s campaign website encouraging the public to use social networks to lobby Congress for passage of…
Las Vegas Review Journal
‘Unforeseen Consequences’ of Changing Banks
Las Vegas Review Journal
Small Banks, Credit Unions Capitalize on Big Bank Fumbling
Blog
Bank of America Debit Decision Doesn’t Negate Dodd-Frank’s Costs to Consumers
Bank of America and other banks are cancelling plans to impose monthly debit card fees. This was one of the ways Bank of America, as…
Las Vegas Review Journal
Get a Job!
Repeal Financial Regs Repeal portions of the Bush-era Sarbanes-Oxley Act to make it easier for smaller companies to raise capital by going public,…
Letters
Coalition Letter on Sarbanes-Oxley
Full Document Available in PDF Now that the Senate has defeated the so-called American Jobs Bill, which…
Las Vegas Review Journal
2012 Candidates Target Costly Enron-Era Law Aimed at Thwarting Accounting Fraud
The Volokh Conspiracy
CEI “Durbin Dollars”
Blog
Obama-Fannie Regressive Refinance Ripoff for Taxpayers and Middle-Class Investors
President Obama is announcing his plan today to bypass Congress with new government intervention to save the housing market through the entities that destroyed it: Fannie…
The Volokh Conspiracy
What About Fannie Mae Millionaires?
‘They are . . . not interested in asking millionaires and billionaires to pay a half a penny on the dollar for the sake of…
The Volokh Conspiracy
The Hypocritical Warren Buffett
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Bright Light of the Week: CEI’s ‘Durbin Dollar’
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Why Your Bank Is Charging More Fees
There are many observations that can be made about President Obama’s remark Monday to ABC News that businesses “don’t have some inherent right just…
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Dodd Frank and the End of Free Checking
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Farewell Free Checking?
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Today’s Red Tape Would Have Killed Home Depot’s IPO
Your editorial “The Anti-Solyndras” (Sept. 22) is right on target in detailing the devastating impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on job and…
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Debit Durbin
Read the headlines — and your bank statement — and weep, but don’t say TAS didn’t warn you. As I detailed here in February…
Blog
Blame Not Banks — But Big Box and Big Government — For Free Checking’s Demise
Read it and weep, but don't say OpenMarket didn't warn you. Thanks to Dodd-Frank's Durbin Amendment, price controls on interchange fees --…
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White House Wants Bailout Tax
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D.C. Summit Focuses on Consumer Credit
Comment
CEI Submits Supplemental Comments on SEC’s Proposed Conflict Minerals Rules
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has submitted supplemental comments regarding Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a provision that would…
Comment
CEI Submits Comments on Conflict Minerals Rules of Dodd-Frank
The Competitive Enterprise has submitted comments regarding the implementation of Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which attempts to…
Blog
Obama Wants a GM Bailout Tax on Bank and Insurance Customers
For all the talk about fairness and equity with the so-called Buffett Rule, there is one sneaky loophole in the Obama revenue proposal that…
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Public Symposium on Capitol Hill Focuses on Acute Credit Needs
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Public Symposium On Capitol Hill Focuses On Acute Credit Needs
Blog
Warren Buffett, Give Your Secretary a Raise!
So it has been decreed -- by Warren Buffett, by President Barack Obama, and by media members going gaga over to so-called Buffett Rule --…
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Liberate the Jobs!
The most fascinating aspect of House Speaker John Boehner’s very effective address to the Economic Club was not the specific solutions he presented but the…