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Under Biden or Trump, taxing carried interest is stupid and destructive policy
No matter who’s in charge of the presidency or Congress, flawed proposals to close the so-called carried interest loophole just keep coming back. News outlets…
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Congress should overturn harmful anti-bank merger regulation
Yesterday, the Senate approved a resolution pursuant to the Congressional Review Act to overturn a regulation from the Biden administration that would sharply restrict…
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Let prediction markets predict – elections, sports, and other topics
In the 2024 presidential election, one of the big winners was prediction markets. During the weeks leading up to election day, venues such as Kalshi,…
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Regulators right to approve Capital One/Discover merger
On Friday, federal financial regulators made the right decision in approving the merger of Capital One and Discover. In their joint approvals of the merger,…
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Paul Atkins is an excellent choice to lead the SEC
On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Paul S. Atkins to serve as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As I have stated before,…
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Trump SEC makes tremendous progress against crypto-stifling regulation
Gary Gensler’s SEC worked at a frenetic pace to shut down innovation in the crypto sector. Without rhyme or reason, the Biden-Gensler SEC moved fast…
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Trump EO on crypto reserves rightly eschews government purchases
After much anticipation, President Donald Trump’s newly issued executive order (EO) on a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and “digital asset stockpile” does not call for…
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Senate debanking hearing should focus on government’s role in politicizing finance
Today the Senate Banking Committee is holding a hearing on debanking, which is the phenomenon of individuals and businesses in certain industries and with certain…
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Caution warranted on Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
Next week, as soon as President-elect Donald Trump takes office, there will be a sea change in government policy towards cryptocurrency. Through executive orders and…
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Google case just the beginning of CFPB fintech power grab
There has been a bullseye on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ever since tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen called the agency out…
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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 the…
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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. In…
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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 of…
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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 up…
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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 to…
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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. The…
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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 president,…
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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 data…
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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 (DAME)…
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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 rule…
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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 that…
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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 market…
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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 prevent…
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America’s insurance commissioners still pursuing bad investment charges that EU is scrapping
Last month, a significant development took place in Europe that so far has not been widely reported in the US, even though it will likely…
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Why are America’s insurance commissioners trying to import harmful European rules?
With high prices and the threat of recession looming over America’s economy, another threat is emerging. Influential policymakers overseeing the U.S. insurance industry are on…
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Adam Smith, George Washington, and the invisible hand in America
Although Adam Smith would have been 300 this year, his birth date is unknown, and his baptism date has shifted from different dates in June…
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SPPI-TV hit: How price controls endanger small dollar loans, boost loan sharks
In my first media appearance from the sleek new CEI studios at our offices in Washington, DC, I joined a great panel on the May…
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New credit card late fee rule hurts folks who pay their bills on time
There has rightly been an outcry after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which sets policy for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSE) Fannie Mae and Freddie…
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FedNow Isn’t a CBDC, But Still Contains Many Dangers
Over the past few days, “FedNow” has been trending on Twitter in tweets that contain healthy doses of curiosity and skepticism, well-founded concerns about privacy…
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Finance Facts Trump Biden’s Blame Game on Banking Woes
Donald Trump dominated the news in more ways than one yesterday, as Biden officials attempted to place the Trump administration at the center of recent…