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Fed flirts with stimulus
As expected, the Federal Reserve signaled its commitment to fighting inflation by holding interest rates steady at this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. It…
Blog
Weak GDP is first stress test for inflation fighters
I have been saying for a while that inflation expectations will remain high until policymakers prove they can restrain their stimulus spending during an economic…
Blog
February inflation stays high, fiscal credibility remains a problem
Headline CPI inflation numbers sped up in February. Monthly inflation increased 0.3 percent in January, and 0.4 percent in February. Year-to-year inflation is 3.2…
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Inflation and the Biden Budget
It is good that the Biden administration is beginning to take inflation seriously. Unfortunately, however, there isn’t much that the president and Congress can…
The Washington Times
Wholesale Prices Soared Again in January as Inflation Remains Near Record Highs
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on the Fed’s response to inflation: Ryan Young, a senior fellow at the libertarian…
Letters
CEI and Other Organizations Urge Support for Pro-Growth ALIGN Act
Dear Chair Wyden, Chair Neal, Ranking Member Crapo, Ranking Member Brady, and Members of the Senate Committee on Finance and House Committee on Ways and…
News Release
Fed Plans for Central Bank Digital Currency Pose Big Risk to Financial Sector, Economy
The US Federal Reserve today published a discussion paper on central bank digital currencies or CBDCs, signaling policymakers’ ambitions to start one. CEI expert Paul Jossey, author of…
News Release
Latest Producer Price Index Indicates Inflation Too High
The government’s latest numbers on average changes in prices, as measured by the Producer Price Index (PPI), are up at an annualized rate of 8.3…
Blog
New Inflation Numbers: Still High, Still Fixable
July’s inflation numbers are out. The annualized Consumer Price Index came in at 5.4 percent, compared to a 2 percent target. The month-to-month increase…
Letters
CEI Joins Letter to Yellen on Federal Overreach of COVID Funds
Dear Secretary Yellen, On March 11, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Act), which authorizes $1.9 trillion in new…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Urging Congress to Reject the Restoration of Earmarks
Dear Member of Congress, On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our millions of members and supporters from across the country, we urge you to…
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…
News Release
Comptroller Plan to Impose ‘Fairness Doctrine’ for Banks Goes Against Freedom of Association
CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau criticized a proposal by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to impose a “fairness doctrine”…
American Greatness
U.S. Economy Suffers Biggest Quarterly Decline Ever, Under Coronavirus Lockdowns
American Greatness cites CEI senior fellows John Berlau and Iain Murray: The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are considering bills for additional coronavirus relief…
The Crypto Report
Ron Paul Fights For Bitcoin After Fed’s Payments System Threatens Crypto
The Crypto Report cites CEI senior fellow John Berlau regarding FedNow: Ever the champion of individual liberty, it is no surprise that Ron Paul…
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. …
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
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…
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…
Phys.org
With Virtual Money, Facebook Bets on Disrupting the World, Again
Phys.org cites CEI’s Senior Fellow on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency. “If successful, Libra could have benefits for consumers and small businesses in reducing the transaction…
Marketplace
Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Prompts Regulation Concerns
Marketplace cites CEI’s Research Fellow Patrick Hedger on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency. Patrick Hedger, a research fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the Libra…
Blog
Alice Rivlin, 1931-2019
Some economists do more than teach classes and write books. Alice Rivlin, who passed away this week, was proof. She was the first director of…
Inside ARM
BREAKING: Senate Confirms Kraninger As Next Director Of BCFP
Inside ARM cited CEI’s Senior Fellow John Berlau on Kathy Kraninger confirmation. Today, the Senate voted on and confirmed Kathy Kraninger as the…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Support of the Death Tax Repeal Act
The undersigned organizations support your bill, the Death Tax Repeal Act. We appreciate your work to lead the country towards a common sense tax code that…
Yahoo Finance!
New House Bill Would Kill Consumer Watchdog Payday Loan Rule
Yahoo! Finance cited Daniel Press on the necessity of access for consumers to receive a payday loan. A congressional resolution introduced in the House…
Bloomberg Law
House Bid to Ax Payday Rule Kicks Off With Bipartisan Support
Bloomberg Law cited Daniel Press on the leadership expressed by House lawmakers for blocking a law that would impede upon the loan-granting process that would…
The Washington Examiner
CFPB’s ‘NSA-like’ surveillance in limbo with leadership tussle
The Washington Examiner quoted John Berlau in the need for regulatory reform and the need to eliminate the cache of consumer data which the CFPB…
Newsmax
Stop Stealth Capital Gains Tax Hike in Senate Bill
It’s crunch time on tax reform. The House passed a bill just before Thanksgiving. Now it’s the Senate’s turn. A good tax reform bill would…
The Hill
Why are we still regulating Main Street like Wall Street?
It’s no secret that banks across America aren’t doing well under the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. Since Dodd-Frank’s enactment in…
U.S. News & World Report
Cutting Off Consumers
A new regulation will burden low- and middle-income Americans reliant on payday loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just released a new rule against payday…
Las Vegas
Think Tank Releasing Report On New Jersey Challenge To Sports Betting Act
Las Vegas Review-Journal quotes Michelle Minton the impact on consumer freedom which a federal sports gambling known as PASPA poses. When the U.S.
Bloomberg
Business Groups Attack ‘America First’ Merger Review Bill
Blog
Increasing Public Awareness Bolsters Potential for Blockchain Applications
Blockchain is a software architecture that seems very likely to unleash profound global forces if it crosses over into the mainstream.
Blog
Bitcoin’s Wonderful, Awful Year
Will Bitcoin’s social capital grow to justify the current high price?…
Blog
Digital Finance Pioneers Using Bitcoin for Savings, Payments,…and Donations
Your support for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, given in Bitcoin or dollars, can help us strengthen the hand of the businesses that offer a revolution…
Blog
Economics Will Be Our Ruination, Bitcoin Edition—and Some Notes on Securing Your Cryptocurrency
Asked about Bitcoin last week, economics Nobel laureate and Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz said, among other gems, “It ought to be outlawed. It…
Blog
Back to Basics after Bitcoin’s Wild Rise
The alternate currency known as Bitcoin has had a wild week, and its dramatic rise in value has meant that many Americans are hearing and…
Blog
Court Orders Coinbase to Turn over Cryptocurrency User Data to IRS
Congress should revisit the law to protect privacy and due process in IRS investigations.
Blog
Acting CFPB Director Mulvaney’s Bipartisan FinTech Work
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has long broken bread with folks he disagrees with to find common ground on policy.
Bloomberg BNA
Business Groups Attack ‘America First’ Merger Review Bill
Bloomberg BNA discusses the United States Foreign Investment Review Act of 2017 with John Berlau. Senate legislation to increase scrutiny of mergers proposed by…
National Review Online
Time for a New Fed Chairman
The establishment is…
Federal Times
Report Calls for Drastic Workforce Cuts at Regulatory Agencies
Federal Times covers CEI’s publication Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. The non-profit Competitive Enterprise Institute is all about shrinking government. In a newly released report…
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…
Morning Consult
It’s Time to Eliminate Volcker Rule and Federal Deposit Insurance
America’s national bank regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, announced this month that it would seek to ease one of the most…
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
‘Bitcoin Sign Guy’ Joins CEI
Bitcoin Sign Guy rankled Congress and delighted the cryptocurrency community last week.
Politico
CEI Weighs in on Treasury Report
Politico covers CEI’s Iain Murray’s response to the Treasury report released on June 12, 2017 The free-market group Competitive Enterprise Institute has mostly…
Blog
Arguments Against Cash Economy Bolster Government Power
The way people spend money and time reveals what they truly value.
Study
The World Bank’s Trail of Sorrows
View Full Document as PDF…
Blog
Mr. Robot and the Future of Money
Last week, the cult USA channel TV show Mr. Robot showed once again why it is required viewing for anyone interested in technology.
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Taxpayers on the Hook
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, Michael Tanner tallies Uncle Sam’s ballooning entitlement debt and Romina Boccia pulls back the cover on the Beltway crony…
Blog
House Plan to Replace Dodd-Frank Provides Long-Needed Alternative
On Wednesday, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling announced the main features of his comprehensive plan to replace Dodd-Frank, the flawed response to the…
Blog
The Improvisational Fed, and Unpredictable Regulations
Improvisation can be a wonderful thing when performed by talented hands—Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and the like. The Federal Reserve, especially for the past several…