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…
Blog
Obama and Sarbanes-Oxley Review — The One Sentence Worth 4,000 Words for Jobs
In President Obama’s 33-minute-long speech to Congress on job creation last week, one sentence was worth nearly all the rest of his 4,000 words.
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Is Obama Ready to Drop Sarbanes?
In U.S. President Barack Obama’s 33-minute speech to Congress on job creation, one sentence was worth nearly all the rest of his 4,000 words. In…
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Will Obama and Congress Slay the Sarbox Job-Killing Monster?
In President Obama’s 33-minute-long speech to Congress on job creation, one sentence was worth nearly all the rest of his 4,000 words. In the…
Blog
H.R. 1909 Brings Competitive Regulation to Small Loan Market
The Summer of 2011 will likely be remembered as a season that overregulation came to a boiling point -- at all levels of the U.S. government.
Blog
My Fantasy Obama Jobs Speech
The following is my fantasy speech on jobs from Barack Obama. He looks at CEI's websites, realizes his big-government approach has been all wrong, but…
National Review
What the President Should Say Tonight
Blog
Fannie-Freddie’s Hypocritical Suit Against Banks Making Loans that GSEs Helped Create
"U.S. is set to sue dozen big banks over mortgages," reads the front-page headline in today's New York Times. The "deck" below the headline…
Blog
Europe’s Woes No Excuse for Abysmal U.S. Growth
Today, once again, the market is crashing largely due to events in the European Union. President Obama and other policy makers wring their collective hands…
National Review
Europe’s Shorts-Sightedness
This week, troubles in Europe may have played as much of a role in the U.S. stock market carnage and volatility as the downgrade of…
Blog
Make S&P like Zagat
National Review
Down on the Downgrade?
The downgrade itself was fair. However, S&P’s timing and “partisan gridlock” rationale were questionable, as is its implicit advocacy of higher taxes. Nothing really…
National Review
S&P’s Regulatory Politics
Within 24 hours, the Obama administration went from attacking Standard & Poor’s first-ever downgrade of U.S. debt to almost embracing it. On the Friday night…
National Review
Bad Foundation
Most attempts at financial reform have been burdensome, created unintended consequences and have been harmful to economic growth. But compared to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street…
National Review
The Wisdom of the Debt Ceiling
Even though I often disagree with his conclusions, I’ve long been a fan of New Yorker correspondent James Surowiecki. In his articles and his book,…
National Review
Debt Ceiling Hit Before
National Review
Dodd-Frank’s Fannie Trap
One year ago today, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Despite the “Wall Street” moniker, the tentacles of Dodd-Frank’s…
National Review
One Year Later: Frank-Dodd “Reform” Leaves Fannie and Freddie Intact
National Review
Put a Ceiling on Overregulation
President Barack Obama may have inadvertently revealed one area of common ground with the Republicans during his recent news conference laying out sharp differences with…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Nominee Richard Cordray Supports Price Controls and Borrower Bailouts
Last Thursday, before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau architect Elizabeth Warren insisted that her priority was not to ban certain…
Blog
Debt Ceiling Deal of 1996 Set Regulatory Reform Precedent
In National Review this week, Wayne Crews and I make the case for including regulatory reform in a debt ceiling package. "Any hike in…
National Review
Put a Ceiling on Overregulation
After months of saying it wanted a “clean” hike in borrowing authority, the Obama administration now proclaims it wants to do something “big” in a…
National Review
The Left’s 14th Amendment Lie
National Review
Constitutional Nonsense on Debt
Lo and behold! As we celebrated this Fourth of July amid the debt-ceiling fight, the netroots and progressive pundits suddenly discovered the Constitution’s relevance in…
Blog
Dodd-Frank Interchange Fee Price Controls Less Draconian, But Still Destructive
Today, at around 3:30 pm, the Federal Reserve will vote on a final rule that will make price controls from the Durbin Amendment of Dodd-Frank…
Blog
“Uncertainty” Not the Whole Story of our Economic Doldrums
As those engaged in the policy battlefield, our focus is often on taking apart arguments used to advanced proposed solutions we disagree with. But sometimes…
National Review
Obama Urges Use of Foreign Capital Boost
National Review
Liberate ATMs and Credit Unions to Jumpstart Jobs
“ATMs don’t destroy jobs,” tweeted Davd Burge of the Iowahawk blog in response to Obama’s now-infamous “Today Show” explanation of unemployment. “Politicians who…
National Review
Bachmann and the ‘20,000 Millionaires’ Myth
“Michele Bachmann would knock 20,000 millionaires off tax rolls.” So reads the glaring headline on a blog post by Howard Gleckman of the…
National Review
Bailout a bust?
National Review
GOP’s ‘Durbin Dozen’ Keeps Dodd-Frank Price Controls
Anywhere but the Senate, getting 54 votes out of 100 is a victory. And Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 54 Senators responded to concerns from…
Blog
GOP Durbin Dozen Blocks Dodd-Frank Rollback
Anywhere but the Senate, getting 54 votes out of 100 is a victory. And yesterday, a bipartisan group 0f 54 Senators responded to concerns…
Blog
Delaying Dodd-Frank’s Durbin Price Controls Would Save Retailers From Themselves
Today is the day, as a bipartisan amendment comes to the Senate floor delaying draconian price controls on debit card transaction fees from Dodd-Frank's Durbin Amendment, that the Senate has an…
National Review
Obama’s Funny Auto-Jobs Math
‘The auto industry has added 113,000 jobs over the past two years.” So proclaimed President Obama in his speech Friday at the Chrysler-Fiat…
Blog
Obama’s Chrysler Fiat — Missing Jobs Under the Hood
“So far the auto industry’s added 113,000 jobs over the past two years.” So proclaimed President Obama in a speech at the Chrysler/Fiat plant in…
National Review
Washington Declares War on Debit Cards
Blog
AIG Bailout’s True Costs to Taxpayers, Innovation, and Competition
The Treasury Department today is patting itself on the back for finally selling some of the government's shares in American International Group, with Treasury…
National Review
Banking On National Economic Suicide
Blog
Durbin ‘Swipe Fee’ Price Controls — Bernanke’s Warning and Dean Baker’s Fudge of Fed Data on Costs
Even considering the usually sympathetic audience at the Huffington Post, liberal economist Dean Baker had a tough task of persuasion with his Monday column defending…
National Review
The Washington Post’s Junky Rant Against Princess Catherine’s Entrepreneurial Family
On the eve of the royal wedding, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed I wrote celebrating the entrepreneurship of Kate Middleton’s parents and…
National Review
Princess Entreprenuer
Blog
Washington Post’s Royal Class Snobbery Against Middletons
Thanks Iain, for your kind comments on my Wall Street Journal op-ed celebrating the Middleton's entrepreneurship and for the great info on how…
National Review
The Entrepreneurs’ Princess
From across the pond, I have watched with interest the debate and speculation on the significance of Prince William’s wedding to longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton.