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Cato Institute
The Fate of ‘Never Needed’ Regulations
Parking lots and parking garages have served for decades as venues for clandestine meetings in the movies and often in reality. In the early 1970s,…
Issues & Insights
Reviving Community Banking By Lifting Barriers To New Banks
Americans have far fewer banks to choose from than they once did. The American banking industry has consolidated, with the number of U.S. banks falling…
Blog
Yes, women had access to credit before 1974
March is Women’s History Month, a time to acknowledge and celebrate many “firsts” for women in public life. One of those “firsts” is the ability…
Search Posts
News Release
China Cryptocurrency Ban A Lesson For US: CEI statement
China’s plans to ban private cryptocurrency is terrible but also offers a lesson and opportunity for US policymakers, says Competitive Enterprise Institute financial policy expert…
Blog
Proposed New Restrictions Threaten Opportunity for Middle Class Investors
While President Biden and Congressional Democrats have called for reining in big firms through antitrust and other punitive policies, a tax provision contrived by Congress…
Blog
No, Crypto Is Not a Criminal Haven
“In 2020, the criminal share of all cryptocurrency activity [was] just 0.34%, or $10.0 billion in transaction volume.” This finding by crypto intelligence firm…
Blog
CEI Continues Fight for Cryptocurrency Freedom
Because the Senate failed to adopt the bipartisan Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment even after it was watered down, the infrastructure package’s cryptocurrency tax reporting provisions could destroy,…
Blog
CEI’s John Berlau Testifies at House Hearing on Solutions for the Unbanked
On Wednesday, July 21, CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau testified before the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions on how…
Letters
CEI and Other Organizations Sign Coalition Letter Supporting the Wyden-Lummis-Toomey Amendment
Dear Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell, The undersigned organizations—which include nonprofits, trade associations, and individual companies that participate in the United States’ vibrant…
Blog
Has Bitcoin/Crypto Failed as Money?
“[I]t’s not that [cryptocurrencies] didn’t aspire to be a payment mechanism; it’s that they’ve completely failed to become one except for people who desire anonymity…
Blog
Wisdom on the Interest-Rate Price Control Folly from John Stuart Mill to Thomas Sowell
Today, the Senate held a hearing entitled, “Protecting Americans from Debt Traps by Extending the Military’s 36% Interest Rate Cap to Everyone.” But the…
CoinDesk
Washington Should Let DeFi Succeed
A new form of consumer finance could upend the entire banking and finance system that’s plagued by expensive fees, limited “bankers hours,” public mistrust, bailouts…
Blog
SEC Discovery Tactics Belie Lofty Pronouncements in Ripple Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has gotten away with questionable investigation and litigation methods for years. The Commission’s Enforcement Division tactics are so well…
Real Clear Markets
Eager to Protect Small Investors, Gary Gensler Leaves Them Scraps
In a rush to protect retail investors, new Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler is promoting ill-considered policies that will undermine everyday investors. That…
Blog
Digital Yuan Threatens Global Freedom
“[Bitcoin] is an escape hatch from tyranny and nothing less than freedom money.” – Alex Gladstein, Human Rights Foundation The world is recognizing…
Reason
Sports Betting Pays Off
Reason cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on sports betting: “There is nothing criminals like more than a large, unregulated betting market where…
Blog
Should the SEC Require More Climate Data from Public Companies?
This week, Case Western Reserve University law professor (and CEI alum) Jonathan Adler hosted a fascinating event titled “Climate Change, Financial Markets &…
Blog
Why Policy Makers Should Consider Expanding Financing and Exit Options for Startups
Last month, the online chat startup Discord halted accepting bids for a potential acquisition. Suitors included Microsoft, which had offered to acquire the company…
Blog
Biden’s Carried Interest Tax Would Force All Partnerships to Carry Big Burden
“The Biden administration and its allies excel at leveraging crises to expand government,” observes my CEI colleague Wayne Crews on the Biden “infrastructure” plan.
Blog
Don’t Fear Crypto Dip; Fear Regulations that Will Harm America’s Cryptocurrency Lead
After a massive runup for the past few months, the cryptocurrency market experienced a slight dip over the past week and a half. This dip…
Forbes
The Growth-By-Deregulation Alternative To Joe Biden’s Cyclopean American Jobs Plan
Sandwiched between Joe Biden’s $1.9 American Rescue Plan and a promised American Families Plan is the American Jobs Plan (…
Blog
LBRY Cryptocurrency Prosecution Shows SEC’s Misplaced Priorities
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), without authorization from Congress or from formal rulemaking, continues its punitive push against blockchain-based companies that sell native tokens…
Blog
New CEI Paper Revisits Viral Exchange on Payday Loan Rates by Katie Porter and Kathy Kraninger.
It’s not every day an exchange about a technical measurement for loans goes viral on social media. During a 2019 House Committee on Financial…
Blog
The London Stock Exchange Needs Dual-Class Ownership to Compete with New York and Amsterdam
Notwithstanding London’s status as a global financial center, the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) inflexible listing rules constrain the city’s ability to attract high-growth tech…
Blog
Will Anyone Challenge the SEC’s Ever-Expanding Authority?
This question of redefining a government agency’s mission arose last week during an event hosted by George Mason University’s Center for the Study of…
News Release
Richard Morrison Statement on the Confirmation Hearing of Gary Gensler to Be SEC Chair
Senior Fellow Richard Morrison reacted to the confirmation hearing of Gary Gensler to be SEC Chair: “Chairman-designate Gensler’s prepared remarks for today’s confirmation hearing…
Letters
CEI joins Coalition Letter Supporting the Elimination of the Office of Financial Research
Dear Senator Cruz & Congressman Budd: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write to express our support for your legislation eliminating the unaccountable…
Blog
Young Investor’s Tragedy Should Not Cancel Robinhood and Other Fintech Investing Apps
Since the Gamestop-Reddit frenzy, the FinTech investing app Robinhood has taken a lot of arrows. Those who decried the stock market rallies blamed Robinhood for…
Blog
The New CFPB Leadership Should Avoid Rate Caps on Small Dollar Loans
With new leadership at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), there is rising concern that there will be renewed attempts to cap effective interest rates…
National Interest
Why a Biden Administration Attack on Cryptocurrencies Would Be a Mistake
The new Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wants to restrict the use of cryptocurrencies, citing concerns with “illicit financing”—notably money laundering and terrorism financing.
Blog
Respect, Don’t Restrict, Retail Investors
Watching the wild gyrations of the stock market this week—and some of the reactions to it—brings to mind Ronald Reagan’s observations of the bureaucratic mindset…
Blog
Treasury, FHFA Reverse ‘Net Worth Sweep” at Fannie and Freddie
The headlines yesterday were that the Trump administration had failed to exit Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the government-owned conservatorship. This is true…
News Release
Biden’s SEC Pick Should Focus on Commission’s Core Mission, Not Political Causes: CEI Experts
President-elect Biden is reportedly set to select Gary Gensler to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gensler is a current MIT professor who previously served…
The American Spectator
Woke Investing and Management Strategies Threaten the Future of American Free Enterprise
The enlightened titans of the business world, from Davos, Switzerland, to New York, San Francisco, and beyond, are full of suggestions for how commerce and…
News-Press
Guest opinion: Raising minimum wage would hurt Florida families, not help them
News-Press cites Competitive Enterprise Institute on wage hikes. A Competitive Enterprise Institute study found that wage hikes come with trade-offs, which include reduced non-wage compensation, fewer…
Washington Times
Should Maryland Decriminalize Sports Betting? Yes.
In November, Maryland voters will weigh in on whether sports betting should be legal in the state. Question 2 would allow certain licensed facilities to…
Blog
FinCEN Files Shows Regulatory and Privacy Concerns with the Bank Secrecy Act and the Necessity for Reform or Repeal
Last month, BuzzFeed News published an investigative report that alleged that banks sat on their hands while criminals laundered trillions of dollars over the…
Blog
Fed’s Community Reinvestment Act Reform Proposal Is a Step in the Wrong Direction
Last month, the Federal Reserve released a preliminary proposal to update the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The Fed’s proposal, spearheaded by Obama-appointed Fed Governor Lael…
Blog
New CFPB Reports Find Consumer Credit Resiliency During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Recent research from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has found that consumers have not experienced significant increases in negative credit outcomes as a result…
Blog
Finally, a Fix for Fannie and Freddie
In my recent blog post on the 10th anniversary of Dodd-Frank, I lamented that while “this supposed ‘financial reform’ has caused harmful and sometimes…
Blog
CEI Event with Hester Peirce and Paul Atkins: ESG, Crypto, and other SEC Hot Topics
Yesterday, in the most recent installment of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s “Repeal for Resilience” event series, CEI President Kent Lassman welcomed Securities and Exchange Commission…
Blog
Don’t Let Feds Become Investing’s Sheriff of Nottingham
Investing company Robinhood and its signature smartphone app have taken off in popularity in the last several months. According to Bloomberg, Robinhood has “catapulted ahead…
Blog
The Washington Post Plays Fast and Loose in Coverage of CFPB performance During Pandemic
In a recent piece, Washington Post Opinions Contributor Helaine Olen slammed CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger for doing too little to protect consumers during the COVID-19…
Forbes
What Comes After Trillion? Coming To Terms With The Impenetrable Costs Of Government Intervention
“We print it digitally,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said of money. They sure do. Real fiscal debt…
Blog
CFPB Shouldn’t Burden Debt Settlement with Regulations that Could Harm Consumers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently published a report that explores the use and proliferation of debt settlement. While its findings identify some important trends…
Blog
Tragedy of Young Investor Shouldn’t Be Exploited to Harm Freedoms
The recent death of Alexander Kearns, the 20-year-old day trader who took his own life, has sparked a conversation about the business practices of an increasingly important…
Blog
Dodd-Frank Still Harmful After a Decade, But Modest Deregulation Has Helped
Dodd-Frank has caused harmful and sometimes disastrous effects for consumers, investors, entrepreneurs, and Main Street financial institutions such as community banks and credit unions. The…
Blog
CFPB’s Kraninger Should Drop Navient Litigation in Light of Supreme Court Holding
CEI has praised Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for her many deregulatory initiatives that—in contrast to her predecessor, Richard Cordray—protect consumer…
Blog
Seila Law Leaves More Questions than Answers over the Constitutionality of Past CFPB Actions
On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled the structure of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the majority opinion,…
Blog
Webinar Panel: Thoughts on the HEROES Act and Regulation of the Debt Collection Industry
Debt collection firms play a vital role in a market economy, as part of the "plumbing"—the underlying architecture—that makes modern credit markets possible. Legislation to…
Blog
Fedcoin and FedNow are Dangerous and Unnecessary Expansions of Federal Reserve Power
To counter the financial damage from America’s national lockdown, the Federal Reserve has taken unprecedented stepsy. Most of these moves received grudging acceptance even from…
Blog
Navient Files for Summary Judgement in Meritless CFPB Case
On May 19, student loan servicer Navient filed for summary judgement on a CFPB lawsuit started over three years ago. In the filing, Navient urged…
Blog
My Answer to J.K. Rowling on What Cryptocurrency Is
To paraphrase a famous financial services commercial from the 1970s and 1980s, when J.K. Rowling asks, people answer. When the famed author of the Harry…
Blog
HEROES Act Mostly Grows Government, But Has Redeeming Cannabis Banking Provision
The HEROES Act calls for trillions of dollars in new deficit spending and includes a number of longstanding progressive pet projects unrelated to the COVID-19…
Blog
A National Interest Rate Cap Has No Place in the Next Coronavirus Relief Package
As the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc, it’s crucial that struggling Americans have access to affordable short-term credit. Congress should reject calls to include a…
News Release
Broad Alliance of Financial Services and Public Interest Groups File Petition for Rulemaking Challenging SEC’s Unlawful Regulation by Enforcement
The need for our government to set forth consistent, predictable rules has never been greater, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is no exception. …
Blog
SEC’s Shuttering of Fund Fees – #NeverNeeded and Never Authorized
Over the past month, CEI and others have pointed to #NeverNeeded regulations that are hindering our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to economic dislocation.
Blog
Modified Libra Cryptocurrency Still an Innovation, but Clear away Regulatory Barriers for More
Libra and other cryptocurrencies could serve functions other than initially imagined. The potential for faster payments from Libra and other cryptocurrencies, at a time when…
Blog
Facts, Not Feelings, Should Inform Regulation of the Debt Settlement Industry
As money gets tight during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, policy makers need to ensure that struggling households have multiple options to manage their debts…
Blog
Why Is Trump’s SEC Chairman Looking to Bring Back an Obama-era Financial Rule?
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has proposed a set of regulations last fall that would bar many middle class investors from buying mutual funds and exchange-traded…
Blog
Financial Services Committee Democrats Release COVID-19 Wish List
This week, Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee unveiled their public policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While framed as a goodwill attempt at…
News Release
Congress Should Reject Scheme to Use COVID-19 Stimulus to Impose Interest Rate Cap
Special interest groups are pressuring Congress to use the Coronavirus Stimulus Phase III bill as a vehicle for imposing a nationwide interest rate cap on…
Blog
Don’t Save Restaurants by Shafting Consumers
Restaurants are among the hardest—if not the hardest—hit of industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like other industries, restaurants are lobbying Congress and state legislatures…
Blog
As Supreme Court Debates CFPB Constitutionality, Agency Accountability Hangs in the Balance
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week over the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and whether, as currently structured, it is too…
Blog
SEC’s Proposed Rules Would Take ETFs out of the Hands of Middle-Class Investors
CEI recently signed on to a coalition letter encouraging the Securities and Exchange Commission to abandon its plans to further regulate certain financial products and…
Blog
Chairman Crapo Offers Hope for Safe Banking in Controversial Industries
Last October, the House passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act to provide safe harbor for banks and credit unions doing business with…
Blog
Democratic Witnesses Oppose Interest Rate Cap
American Banker ran a piece last week on a proposed law to impose an interest rate cap on small-dollar loans. While the hearing revealed the…
Blog
Interest Rate Caps Harm Financial Inclusion; Bank Partnerships Spread Inclusion Around
The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing last week on small-dollar lending and proposed legislation that would limit the interest rates on such loans.
Blog
CFPB Takes a Step to End Regulation by Enforcement
After almost a decade of ambiguity, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finally offered some clarity to its definition of what constitutes an “abusive” practice…
Blog
Despite Naysayers, Consumer Finance Panelists are Uniquely Qualified to Tackle Barriers to Financial Inclusion
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection announced the membership of the newly created Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law, which will work to “harmonize and…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should End Frivolous Student Loan Lawsuit
The efforts of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger have gone a long way in reversing egregious Obama-era actions that plagued the agency,…
Blog
Celebrate Consumer Finance Law Modernization
Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it will create a taskforce to “harmonize and modernize federal consumer financial laws.” The Taskforce…
Blog
In Praise of Pro-Consumer Tenure of Finance Regulator Kraninger
As she prepares to give her semi-annual testimony to Congress this week—on Wednesday to the House Financial Services Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and on Thursday…
Blog
Like Socialism, Financial Transaction Tax Doomed to Fail
In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith coins the four maxims of taxation: fairness, certainty, convenience, and efficiency. Smith’s maxims are used as a litmus…
Blog
Feds: Gambling Fine, But Investing Too Risky
“In the risk reform debate, as in so many political debates, logic is often for losers.” So lamented Competitive Enterprise Institute founder and president emeritus…
Blog
Protect Consumers, But Let Debt Collectors Do Their Jobs
Debt collector seem to be the occupation everyone loves to hate, but without them businesses large and small—from banks to gyms to doctor’s offices—could not serve…
Blog
Marijuana Industry Bank Reform on Capitol Hill Agenda
While the continued legalization of recreational and medicinal use of marijuana at the state level has undoubtedly been a win for liberty, there remains much…
Blog
Debt Collectors Keep Credit Market Flowing
Debt collecting is a profession that gets little love, but given the social good done by debt collectors who operate ethically and follow the rules,…
Blog
VIDEO: Financial Services for Everyone
Our friends at the Cato Institute recently hosted an excellent discussion on financial opportunity and inclusion titled “How Credit Is Reaching Underserved Communities,” featuring an…
DepositAccounts
Banking 101: What Is the Durbin Amendment?
DepositAccounts cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on Dodd-Frank and the Durbin Amendment. “In 2009, the year before Dodd-Frank, 76% of checking accounts were…
Blog
Defiance of Congress Melts Federal Reserve Credibility
In advance of his testimony yesterday before the House Financial Services Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was the subject of a front-page story in The…
Consumer Reports
One Month Left to Opt Out of Chase Binding Arbitration
Consumer Reports cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on credit card regulations. According to John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Blog
Commonsense New Debt Collection Rule from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was passed in 1977, over forty years ago, at a time when telecommunication technology was in its infancy…
Blog
Facebook Libra Highlights Flaws of Fed Foray into Real-Time Payments
More than ten years after the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto published the source code for Bitcoin, and after hundreds of other cryptocurrencies have been introduced, Facebook…
Blog
Overhaul Internal Operations at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
One of the most important, yet least visible, changes a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director could make is to reform the internal operations of…
Blog
Regulators Should Foster Financial Innovation
It is becoming increasingly apparent that financial technology, or “fintech,” like other forms of technology, can drastically improve consumers’ lives. Yet one of the most…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should Acknowledge Its Unconstitutional Structure
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure is unconstitutional. The agency’s leadership should recognize it as such.
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should Define ‘Abusive’
The Dodd–Frank Act was a mammoth overhaul of financial services regulation. Along with creating an entire new consumer protection agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,…
Blog
SEC’s ‘Regulation Best Interest’ Respects Investor Choice
Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved final rules that comprise “Regulation Best Interest,” which will govern conduct of broker-dealers in their transactions with retail investors. Any…
Blog
Prevent Another Mortgage Crisis: Let Qualified Mortgage ‘Patch’ Expire
Last month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its rulemaking agenda for Spring 2019. While there weren’t too many surprises in the agenda, which mainly…
Blog
Don’t Let Credit Scoring Kerfuffle Compromise GSE Reform
Just when it seemed that reforming the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was becoming a “third rail” that politicians did not want…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should Drop Flawed Enforcement Actions
While the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s role in enforcing consumer protection laws is important, there are times when it oversteps the mark and brings frivolous…
Blog
Narrowly Address Fair Lending Requirements to Spare Impact on Small Business
Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require financial institutions to collect, report, and make public certain information concerning…
Blog
Reform Fair Lending Laws to Uphold Rule of Law
The CFPB’s new director, Kathleen Kraninger, assured the Senate Banking Committee in her confirmation hearing that she was committed to upholding the rule of law.
Blog
Regulators Should Rescind ‘Small-Dollar’ Loan Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is one of the most controversial regulators in Washington, D.C. Since its founding in 2010 under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street…
Blog
Credit Card Interest Cap Would Create Consumer Credit Bread Lines
Last Thursday Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) teamed up to introduce a bill that only two democratic socialists could have dreamed up.
Blog
Good and Bad of Government’s Debt Collection Proposal
Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a much-anticipated proposal to revamp the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), a forty-two year old…
Blog
Australian Government Tempts Mortgage Crisis
It seems that Australia’s political parties are suffering from collective amnesia. After spending the earlier half of the year criticizing banks for abrogating their responsible…
Blog
The Economic Illiteracy of a 36 Percent Interest Rate Cap
Earlier this week, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on a draft bill that proposes to set a national 36 percent annual percentage…
Blog
Will Reforming Consumer Finance Regulation Cause a Recession?
Will reforming consumer finance regulation cause a recession? That is the claim of a recent article in The Hill. Yet, the article provides little evidence to…
Blog
CEI Leads Coalition Supporting Reformed Payday Loan Rule
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute led a coalition of eighteen free market organizations in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s decision to rescind portions of…
Blog
Reformed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Can Be Free-Market Regulator
Earlier this week, The New York Times Magazine rolled out another edition of the tired old trope of how former acting Director Mick Mulvaney “destroyed”…
Blog
Shed Light on Cryptocurrency ‘Dark Matter’ Regulation at SEC
A few days ago, the Trump administration issued a memorandum strongly discouraging what the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Wayne Crews has called “regulatory dark matter.” The…