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American Institute for Economic Research
Biden Redoubles Effort to Crush Crypto With EIA’s Mining Survey
The Biden administration has launched yet another attack against the cryptocurrency industry–an environmental impact “survey” to bolster a politically motivated attack on the crypto mining…
Reason
Inflation Is So Back
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited on Reason about rising inflation: “If the Federal Reserve was thinking of cutting interest rates at its next meeting…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Trademark fees and threatened sloths
A cargo ship struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman died at age 90.
Search Posts
Blog
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…
News Release
Fed Chair Yellen Off the Mark in Dodd-Frank Comments
At the Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on August 25, 2017, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen made some tedious claims on the…
Compliance Week
Killing the SEC and Other Plans to Redraft Regulatory Agencies
Compliance Week covers CEI’s reccomendations for reorganization to the SEC and other agencies from Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. Occasionally daydream about razing Washington’s regulatory agencies…
Blog
President’s Summer Policy Update
When it comes to the institutions of capitalism, the advance of human welfare, and liberty, we are here because we love the work.
Blog
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.
CoinDesk
The IRS Has Been Using Bitcoin Tracking Software Since 2015
CoinDesk covers CEI’s amicus brief filing in United States v. Coinbase. The Internal Revenue Service is using bitcoin transaction tracing tools developed by…
National Review Online
Operation Choke Point is Over – Perhaps
Supporters of the rule of law will be overjoyed to hear that the Department of Justice has officially closed down Operation Choke Point. In…
Blog
Yes, Federal Arbitration Rule Will Harm ‘Little Guys’
The Senate to follow the House’s lead and pass a Congressional Review Act resolution to block the Arbitration Rule.
Reason
Goodbye and Good Riddance to Operation Choke Point
Reason covers Iain Murray’s work on Operation Choke Point. A financial dragnet that ensnared porn stars, gun dealers, payday lenders, and other politically…
Blog
Rethinking the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal deposit insurance creates a systemic problem of moral hazard.
Blog
Rethinking the Securities and Exchange Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission be abolished and its authority to punish securities fraud be transferred to the Federal Trade Commission.
Legal Newsline
DOL Looks to Delay Fiduciary Rule until 2019
Legal Newsline discusses the delayed implementation of the fiduciary rule with John Berlau. The U.S. Department of Labor is looking to push back…
Washington Examiner
‘Drain the swamp?’ Start with the CFPB
As you muck around the D.C. swamp, there are plenty of dank crevices its denizens inhabit. Those habitats will need to be cleared away if…
Blog
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…
Blog
Bitcoin Reserve Proposed for Australian Central Bank
The Australian Parliament may soon consider adding Bitcoin to the currency reserve holdings of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Blog
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.
Blog
Congressional Leaders Call on Agency Heads to Repudiate Operation Choke Point
Five House committee and subcommittee chairmen today called on the heads of the executive branch agencies most closely connected with Operation Choke Point to repudiate…
Blog
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…
Blog
For the Sake of Financial Privacy, IRS Subpoena of Coinbase Should Go
Our brief in United States v. Coinbase might have a lot to say about what the future of financial privacy looks like.
Investor's Business Daily
Glass-Steagall Held Back Main Street Banks and Their Customers
A strange-bedfellows mix of Democrats and Republicans have called for resurrecting the Glass-Steagall Act, a Depression-era law that separated commercial and investment banking. For…
Politico
New Glass-Steagall Report
Politico’s Morning Money covers John Berlau’s report, Why Wall Street Loves Glass-Steagall. Via CEI: “CEI has a new Glass-Steagall report on why policymakers…
News Release
Report: Return to Depression-Era Banking Law would Shatter Main Street Banks, Shrink Competition
A new report released today by the Competitive Enterprise Institute warns against efforts by Democrats and Republicans to resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, a…
Blog
Financial Regulators Should End ‘Too-Big-to-Fail’ Status
In the name of financial stability, federal regulators should at the very least hit the much-need pause button on the SIFI designation process.
Blog
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.
Blog
Consumers Win as House Votes to Overturn Credit Card Arbitration Ban
The Senate must follow the House in passing this resolution of disapproval and in passing the Financial CHOICE Act to bring constitutional accountability to the…
Crowdfund Insider
“Sarbanes-Oxley Is Shutting Out Average Investors from the Early Growth Stages of the Next Cisco & Starbucks”
Crowdfund Insider covers John Berlau’s testimony on Sarbanes-Oxley before the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investment (Financial Services). … In…
Blog
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…
Coindesk
Understanding Bitcoin’s Scaling Debate: Politics Comes First
Software programmers are usually collegial and collaborative, but parts of the bitcoin developer community are currently displaying the kind of acrimony familiar to political capitols…
Blog
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…
Coindesk
‘Bitcoin Sign Guy’ Has a New Job, But He’s Keeping His Identity Secret
Coindesk discusses Bitcoin Sign Guy’s new job at CEI with his boss Jim Harper. It’s been a tumultuous week since the man known as…
The Hill
Warren’s Consumer ‘Protection’ Agency Sets Dangerous Precedent
The Hill discusses the CFPB’s arbitration rule with John Berlau. Sen. Elizabeth Warren‘s government-run-wild brain child is continuing its left-wing sprint into…
The Hill
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Pro-Lawyer Power Grab
Imagine you have a dispute with your credit card company. Currently, you can go to an arbitration body, where the card company will almost certainly…
Blog
‘Bitcoin Sign Guy’ Joins CEI
Bitcoin Sign Guy rankled Congress and delighted the cryptocurrency community last week.
Blog
Finance Regulators Reject All Critiques, Plow Ahead with Arbitration Rule
CEI will continue to work to overturn the CFPB's arbitration rule and restore the ability of consumers to enter into arbitration agreements, saving them time…
Blog
CFPB Director Shows Contempt for Congress – President Trump Should Fire Him
Add another one to the long list of reasons why President Trump should fire Richard Cordray, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Newsmax
Passing Financial Choice Act Will Help FinTech Innovators
Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Financial CHOICE Act along partisan lines with all Democrats present voting against it and all…
Blog
CHOICE Act Helps Sharing Economy and FinTech, but a Senate Bill May Harm It
Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Financial CHOICE Act along partisan lines with all Democrats present voting against it and all…
Cayman Financial Review
The Internet of Payments and the Future of Banking: Crisis and Opportunity
Imagine a world where your washing machine can recognize it needs more detergent and orders it for you. Now imagine a world where your self-driving…
Blog
Treasury Report Good First Step towards Financial Reform
CEI welcomes many of the recommendations and looks forward to the further three reports in the series.
Blog
A Birthday Wish List for the President
Here are four gifts Congress should give the president before its annual July 4th recess.
Blog
Arguments Against Cash Economy Bolster Government Power
The way people spend money and time reveals what they truly value.
National Review
The Top Ten Reasons to Pass the Financial CHOICE Act
It’s no secret that the Dodd-Frank Act did for Americans’ access to financial services what Obamacare did for their access to health insurance. In…
News Release
House-Passed Financial CHOICE Act Will Help Middle Class Investors, Consumers
Today, the House passed a plan aimed at scaling back some of the most harmful provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law. CEI senior…
Blog
The Clear Case for Restructuring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Financial CHOICE Act would go a long way towards righting the wrongs inflicted on American financial consumers by this erroneously-named agency.
Reason
Alphabet Soup for the Soul: Some Organizations Represented Include Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Tax Reform, American Legislative Exchange Council, Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation.
Reason discusses the CFPB and the Financia CHOICE Act with John Berlau. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s days as the federal government’s most…
Bloomberg BNA
Retailers Win, Banks Lose in Debit-Card Swipe Fee Fight
Bloomberg BNA covers the Durbin Amendment and a statement put out by CEI’s Iain Murray. An effort to repeal the caps that banks…
The Hill
The GOP Must Fight Against the Durbin Amendment’s Price Controls
If there’s one thing House Republicans should stand united against, it’s draconian government price controls. When it comes to government policies interfering with market prices,…
Study
The World Bank’s Trail of Sorrows
View Full Document as PDF…
News Release
CEI General Counsel Says Time to Invalidate ‘Fundamentally Unconstitutional’ CFPB
A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will be heard in federal court this Wednesday. Mortgage lender PHH Corp. brought…
Blog
Powerful Officials, Like the Director of the CFPB, Should Be Democratically Accountable
While a three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled against the CFPB’s constitutionality, the full appeals court will re-hear arguments in the case on May…