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Might Australian Financial Regulators Finally Embrace Greater Competition?
Over the past few weeks, I have been rather critical of the state of financial regulation in Australia. A banking scandal earlier this month revealed…
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Human Freedom Is Key to African Prosperity
Earlier this week at a presentation to the Cato Institute, authors Greg Mills, Jeffrey Herbst, Olusegun Obasanjo, and Dickie Davis, discussed their new book…
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Debit Cards Fee Limits Have Big Impact on Payday Loans and Overdraft Charges
Seven years on from the inception of the Durbin Amendment, it has pushed nearly a million consumers out of formal financial services by raising the…
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Poll: Americans Don’t Trust Big Bank Regulators
Bank regulators should foster an environment of financial competition, where institutions compete on the merits of their products and bear their own risks, instead of…
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Ending the Myth of ‘Too Much’ Bank Competition
It’s time to let the idea that too much competition is bad for financial stability finally die.
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Congress Moves on Financial Reform Bills
Nearly a decade on from the 2007-08 financial crisis, it is clear that the federal regulatory regime is not working.
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5 Ways ‘Consumer Protection’ Hurts Consumers
Financial regulation does not have to be a zero-sum trade-off between consumers and businesses.
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Fix Payday Loans with More Competition
Last week, I wrote about the devastating impact that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new regulation on short-term, small-dollar loans could have upon…
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Why Africa Needs Economic Freedom
That is the topic I presented earlier this week as part of the panel discussion, Perspectives on African Development, at the Department of State’s…
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Why Economic Freedom Is the Best Weapon against Poverty
This blog post is adapted from a speech delivered to the Foreign Service Institute at the United States Department of State on August 29, 2017.
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Federal Payday Loan Rule Would Devastate Vulnerable Consumers
It is clear then that the CFPB has no legitimate basis for regulating most payday loans out of existence.
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Easing the Volcker Rule Would Be Good, Abolishing it Would Be Better
The Volcker Rule vowed to promote safety and soundness in the financial services industry by banning certain kinds of commercial banks trading, but has not…
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Volcker Rule Harms Financial Stability and Economic Growth
The Volcker Rule’s definition is rather ambiguous, and gives little clarity as to how both regulators and banks should conduct their business.
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Regulators Mull Changes to ‘Volcker Rule’ on Bank Investments
Given that the Volcker Rule’s future hangs in the balance, it is important to review its short history, perverse effects, and what the best options…
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Congress Should Confirm Export-Import Bank Nominee, End Corporate Welfare
The Export-Import Bank is one of the capital’s greatest boondoggles, handing out loans for large corporations at the taxpayer’s expense.
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Congress Should Protect Consumers from Harmful Finance Regulations
Overregulation from Dodd-Frank and the CFPB has taken an enormous toll on community banks, small businesses and consumers alike.
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Resolution of Disapproval of CFPB’s Arbitration Rule Is Long Overdue
This week, the House of Representatives is scheduled to consider a joint resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 111) of a controversial new regulation issued…
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Legislation Introduced in Congress to Ease Regulations on Small and Medum-Sized Banks
While recent news cycles dominating Washington have focused on Russia, health care, and now tax reform, some little-noticed progress is being made in deregulating the…
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CFPB Delays Prepaid Card Rule
Earlier today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it will delay its 1,700-page prepaid spending cards rule until April 1, 2018. This follows…
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African Development Requires Economic and Legal Reforms, Affordable Energy
If the African continent is to achieve the prosperity it deserves, then African policy makers and non-governmental organizations alike should strive to implement pro-growth policies.
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Glass-Steagall Would Not Have Prevented the Financial Crisis
The Glass-Steagall Act was an ineffective and harmful regulation for a bygone era. To re-impose it now would be to inject additional risk into the…
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Lawmakers Should Shun Long-Repealed Bank Restrictions
The Glass-Steagall Act is the bad idea that never seems to die.
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Let Africa Power Its Future with Affordable Energy
Economic development in Africa needs affordable, reliable fossil fuels, not expensive, intermittent renewables, as some Western environmentalists demand.
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Low-Cost Private Schools a Success for Developing World Families
Education reform advocates in the United States have a lot to learn from low-cost private schools in the world's poorest communities.
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Gates Foundation Should Credit Market Reforms for Poverty Reduction
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation should give greater credit to the proven economic reforms that have spurred development throughout the world.
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Blockchain Business Council to Help Secure Property Rights for World’s Poor
The launch of the Global Blockchain Business Council at the 2017 World Economic Forum is good news for the world’s venture capitalists and poor alike.