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News Release
Energy and oil prices driving force behind March inflation increase: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for March shows a 0.9 percent increase across all sectors, mainly driven by significantly higher energy and oil…
News Release
Federal Reserve keeps interest rates steady, higher inflation likely to continue: CEI analysis
The Fed has decided to keep interest rates steady, with inflation still too high to warrant rate cuts. With Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s term…
News Release
SEC to seek end to quarterly reporting mandate: CEI analysis
The Securities and Exchange Commission will propose to end mandatory quarterly reporting for public companies, and give companies the option to file semi-annually instead, according…
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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…
News Release
Report: Job Growth Greater With Family Businesses
WASHINGTON, May 20 – Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) published a new study showing state and local governments could see more job growth…
Reason
Choke Point Check-In: Constitutional Concerns in DOJ Targeting ‘Risky’ Businesses
Operation Choke Point was initially pitched as a crackdown on web-based payday lending businesses that lend into states that prohibit it. Now it may have…
Forbes
How to Ease the Crushing Costs of Federal Regulations
“You can look at the federal budget and see what we spend. There is nothing like that with respect to regulations. I tabulate the annual…
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…
News Release
Dodd-Frank “Diversity” Hiring Quotas Unconstitutional
Washington, DC, Feb. 6, 2014 – The Dodd-Frank Act regulates the financial sector, but what many people do not know is how far its…
News Release
Proposed SEC Rules on Crowdfunding Threaten Access to Capital By Locking Out Ordinary Investors
Washington, DC, Feb. 6, 2014 – This week marked the deadline for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to accept public comments on proposed…
Comment
CEI comments on Dodd-Frank proposed diversity statement Docket No OP-1465
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…
News Release
Volcker Rule Could Cause Financial Storm, Warn CEI Scholars
Washington, DC, Dec. 11, 2013 – Amid the snow that seemed to paralyze DC yesterday, bureaucrats issued a final regulation on Dodd-Frank’s Volcker Rule that…
News Release
Government “Study” on Internet Tax Hides Harmful Small Business Effects
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 – Under presidents of both parties, the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy has produced top-notch independent studies on the harm the…
The American Spectator
The Unintended Consequences Of Credit Card Regulation
When you try to regulate things, you’re really regulating people. If there’s one crucial lesson to keep in mind about regulation, this is it. And…
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…
Providence Journal
Labyrinthine law threatens our life insurance now
Dodd-Frank, the law more properly known as the 2010 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, was intended to stabilize the financial system and end…
News Release
Questions for Yellen
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 – It’s not every day we get a new chair of the Fed. It is a time to check the fundamental bearings…
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…
Providence Journal
How to Fix Too Big to Fail
As the Competitive Enterprise Institute points out in its constitutional challenge to Dodd-Frank, Title I of the law gives the FSOC the ability to…
News Release
Yellen Pick Shows Left Unconcerned With Value of The Dollar, CEI Analysts Say
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 – Janet Yellen, now vice-chair of the Federal Reserve, has been selected by President Obama to lead the Fed. She is said…
News Release
Twitter – and Investors – Gain from JOBS Act Regulatory Relief
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 – In its much-anticipated initial public offering filing released Thursday night, Twitter unveiled a company with some room for growth – much…
Providence Journal
Lessons from Italy: What happens when businesses are forced to move abroad
Co-written by Emilio Rocca THE 42 employees of Firem, an Italian heating systems maker, returned from their August holidays to find the plant where they…
News Release
Consumer Bureau Gets an F in Transparency
WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 26, 2013 — As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) defends its right to monitor ordinary citizens’ credit card transactions, it is…
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…
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…
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…
Forbes
Caveat Emptor Banking: Peer-To-Peer Lending Challenges Too-Big-To-Fail Status Quo
Imagine a financial institution that the government cannot deem too big to fail, requires no deposit insurance, can never be subject to a run, needs…
Legal Brief
District Court grant of motion to dismiss
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit brought by CEI, 11 state attorneys general, and the State National Bank of Big Spring challenging the…
News Release
Adverse District Court Opinion on Dodd-Frank Deeply Flawed, Case Now on Appeal
Washington, D.C., August 2, 2013 – A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit brought by CEI, 11 state attorneys general, and the State National…
News Release
Dodd-Frank Ruling Goes Wrong Way
Washington, D.C., July 31, 2013 – Today, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon struck down debit card price controls in the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul as not…
News Release
Udall-Paul Legislation Spreads Freedom for Credit Unions and Entrepreneurs
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 21, 2013 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based free market think tank, commends legislation introduced by Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and…
The American Spectator
Financial Experts: Dodd-Frank Exacerbates Instability
These were the standout insights from a panel discussion hosted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) on April 11. The gathering focused on the Financial…
Legal Brief
Dodd-Frank Second Amended Complaint
News Release
Eight More States Join Constitutional Challenge to Dodd-Frank Act
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 13, 2013 – In an attempt to protect their pension funds, taxpayers and financial stability, the states of Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Montana,…
The American Spectator
Value Destroyers Like Bernanke Fancy Themselves Magician Economists
Economics is not magic. Yet today, many prominent economists insist on pulling off an economic rabbit hat trick when they propose getting something for nothing.
News Release
Eurocrats Delay “Basel III” Albatross on U.S. Banks
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 8, 2013 – Over the weekend, a committee of international regulators and central bankers decided to slightly revise and delay the…
News Release
TAG Bank Bailout Fails in Senate, Taxpayers Win
Washington, D.C. – December 13, 2012 – On behalf of taxpayers and future generations burdened by the nation’s debt, the Competitive Enterprise Institute rejoices at…
Letters
Free-Market Coalition Letter Against TAG’s Unlimited Deposit Insurance
As the Senate prepares today to vote on extending unlimited deposit insurance for non-interest bank accounts, 14 leaders and scholars of conservative and free-market groups signed a…
News Release
Coalition Tags TAG Bailout as Regressive and Economically Disastrous
Washington, DC, December 10, 2012 – As the Senate prepares today to vote on extending unlimited deposit insurance for non-interest bank accounts, 14 leaders and scholars…
Appeal Democrat
Taking money off the table
The range of higher taxes looming Jan. 1 as part of the "fiscal cliff" are not the only blow the economy could suffer, John Berlau…
Legal Brief
Dodd Frank Challenge – Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss
Full Document Available in PDF This lawsuit cobbles together an array of disparate challenges to the constitutionality of three titles of an…
Daily Caller
‘Basel cliff’ looms for community banks
As if the “fiscal cliff” were not enough, banks of all sizes — and in turn the consumers and businesses that rely on their credit…
Letters
Coalition Letter on Unintended Consequences of Basel III
Full Document Available in PDF The undersigned organizations, institutions and nonprofits interested in fostering entrepreneurship represent hundreds of thousands businesses, small and…
Letters
Letter Opposing Misnamed ‘Taxpayer Protection Act’: Another Beach House Bailout
Full Document Available in PDF On behalf of the millions of citizens represented by the undersigned groups, we write in strong opposition…
News Release
Durbin Bank Fees: An Unhappy One-Year Anniversary
Washington, D.C., October 2, 2012 – One year ago this month, the Durbin Amendment debit card price controls from the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” law went…
Legal Brief
Dodd-Frank Challenge – Amended Complaint
Full Document Available in PDF…
News Release
Three States Join Constitutional Challenge to Dodd-Frank
Washington, D.C., September 20, 2012 – The states of Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Michigan today joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Wall…
National Review
Sandy Weill’s About-Face on Glass-Steagall
Isn’t it something how a former Wall Street baron named as one of Time magazine’s “25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis” suddenly becomes…
News Release
CEI Fellow Testifies On Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank “Unhappy” Anniversaries
Washington, D.C., July 27, 2012 – As two purported financial “reform” laws mark their anniversaries this July, CEI’s John Berlau testified two times this week…
Comment
Testimony on The 10th Anniversary of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act
John Berlau testifies July 26, 2012 before a House Financial Services subcommittee on the topic of the 10th anniversary of Sarbanes-Oxley.
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…
News Release
Dodd-Frank Price Controls Put Barriers to Jobs, Economic Growth
Washington, D.C., July 6, 2012 – Today’s weaker-than expected jobs numbers highlight the role overregulation plays in hampering job growth. As the Dodd-Frank law, which…
Study
Government Barriers to Georgia’s Growth
Full Document Available in PDF Few states have been hit as hard by the financial…
Legal Brief
State National Bank of Big Spring et al. v. Geithner et al.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the 60 Plus Association join the State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, in their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of…
News Release
Dodd-Frank Unconstitutional Power-Grab, Says New Lawsuit
Full Document Available in PDF WASHINGTON, D.C., June 21, 2012 – The State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, today filed a lawsuit asking…
Daily Caller
The IRS’s Trojan Horse
It may be another 10 months before Tax Day rears its ugly head again, but that doesn’t mean that the American people should take their…
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…
Daily Caller
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…
Daily Caller
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…
Daily Caller
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…
News Release
Groups Call on Senate to Lift Regulations Stifling Credit Unions, Entrepreneurs
Washington, D.C., April 24, 2012 – Leaders of 14 conservative, libertarian, and free-market groups are calling on the U.S. Senate to lift regulations keeping the…
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…
News Release
Occupy Protest of Wells Fargo is An Attack on Shareholders, Middle Class Investors
Washington, D.C., April 24, 2012— John Berlau, Senior Fellow for finance and access to capital at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, issued the following statement on…
News Release
JOBS Act Will Create Jobs, Wealth, and Investor Freedom
Washington, D.C., March 21, 2012 – On Thursday, the Senate is expected to pass the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. John Berlau, Senior…
News Release
Critics Fail “Maxine Waters Test of Political Moderation”
Washington, D.C., March 20, 2012 – As the Senate takes up the JOBS Act this week, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s John Berlau urges Senators…
Daily Caller
New IRS Rule Benefits Only Foreign Dictators
Since when is it the U.S. government’s job to report on the financial activities of foreign nationals to their home governments? It is now. The…
News Release
JOBS Act Would Create More than 10 Million Jobs
Washington, DC, March 8, 2012 – At last, there is a “jobs act” that lives up to its name, notes John Berlau, senior fellow…
Daily Caller
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…
News Release
Free Speech for the 99% on Trial in Bulldog Investors v. Massachusetts
Washington, DC, March 5, 2012 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute today filed an amicus brief in support of hedge fund Bulldog Investors and free speech…
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…
Daily Caller
Letter to the Editor: Dodd-Frank Shields Fannie and Freddie
G. William Beale noted in his Commentary column, “Big regulations stifle small banks,” that small banks are being crushed by pointless red tape due to…
Daily Caller
Where’s the Money to Save the Euro Coming From? Not Us!
Markets rallied last week on news of central bank intervention to ease indebted European governments’ liquidity problems, but the central problem remains. Europe is in…
Daily Caller
Why Finra Needs To Charm The Supreme Court
Daily Caller
Spending More Has Never Worked!
Daily Caller
Enron Bankruptcy 10 Years Later: Before Bailouts Were Big
Daily Caller
GOP Hopefuls, Administration on Same Page
Daily Caller
What the Super Committee Could Have Learned From Italy
One of Thomas Jefferson’s rules for living was, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” As an American and as a “cittadino”…
Daily Caller
Obamateurism of the Day
Daily Caller
What’s Trickling Down Are Lies
Daily Caller
Bank Debit-Card Fees Under U.S. Justice Department Review
Daily Caller
The Price We Pay For Investment Apartheid
The federal government protects two different classes of investors very differently against losses they might incur as a result of making poor investment choices. Both…
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.
Daily Caller
Will Western Civilization Rediscover The Moral Foundations Of Sound Money?
What is money, and from where does it draw its value? This is a question Greece is facing as its people stare into the abyss.
Washington Post
A Stake in Financial Markets
Capital standards are critical to the stability of any financial system. However, whether such standards are better achieved by markets rather than political entities…
Washington Post
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…
Washington Post
‘Unforeseen Consequences’ of Changing Banks
Washington Post
Small Banks, Credit Unions Capitalize on Big Bank Fumbling
Washington Post
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,…
Daily Caller
Regulation Is This Halloween’s Goblin
American entrepreneurs and small business owners have good reason to be scared this Halloween. According to a new Gallup poll, small business owners consider…
RealClear Markets
Yes, Regulation Does Keep Unemployment High
When regulations make hiring employees more expensive, companies won't hire as many of them. It's a simple truth. But it is an inconvenient one…
RealClear Markets
Letter to the Editor: Hoover Didn’t Show Any Fiscal Restraint
Re: “Amendment would cripple government, devastate Americans,” Oct. 23 commentary: Where did Andy Schmookler get the strange idea that former President Herbert Hoover practiced…
Letters
Coalition Letter on Sarbanes-Oxley
Full Document Available in PDF Now that the Senate has defeated the so-called American Jobs Bill, which…
RealClear Markets
2012 Candidates Target Costly Enron-Era Law Aimed at Thwarting Accounting Fraud
The Volokh Conspiracy
CEI “Durbin Dollars”
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
Long Live the Limited Liability Corporation
What does it mean when angry mobs take to the streets not to protest against the specific corporations and politicians that teamed up to loot…
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Bright Light of the Week: CEI’s ‘Durbin Dollar’
News Release
$5 “Durbin Dollars” Protest Price Controls That Killed Free Checking, Debit Cards
Washington, DC, October 14, 2011 – In response to the spate of new “Durbin Fees” hitting the debit cards and checking accounts of so many…
http://cei.org/sites/default/files/Washington Examiner 10-16-2011.jpg
Hoover Never Practised Austerity
Re: Harper denies focusing on austerity, Sept. 28. Wherever did some Canadian economists get the strange idea that U.S. President Herbert Hoover “helped plunge…
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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…