Dodd-Frank | AEIdeas

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore (Flickr)

Will Paul Ryan endorse breaking up the megabanks?

James Pethokoukis | May 8, 2013, 10:36 am

The Republican Party’s 2012 vice presidential candidate: Banks are getting really big, and they are using the value of their insured deposits to go do other things that are really not banking and jeopardizing the stability of the system. … … read more >

Economics, Free Enterprise

Crony capitalism, Dodd-Frank style

Peter J. Wallison | May 8, 2013, 9:26 am

Bob Benmosche, the chairman of AIG, is no fool. Interviewed on CNBC last week, he was asked whether he was concerned that his firm might be designated as a Systemically Important Financial Institution (SIFI) by a council of federal regulators … read more >

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

Washington finally waking up to Dodd-Frank’s failure

James Pethokoukis | May 6, 2013, 9:42 am

A stunning note this morning from ace banking analyst Jaret Seiberg of Guggenheim Washington Research Group. Some of the key points (bold is mine): We believe it is now close to inevitable that regulators will adopt measures that go beyond … read more >

Photo Credit: Leader Nancy Pelosi/Flickr

Economics, Free Enterprise

Dodd-Frank is the poster child for crony capitalism

Arthur C. Brooks | April 25, 2013, 1:45 pm

When policymakers respond to a perceived market failure (whether real or imagined) with “reforms” that instead create government failure, they tend to leave the overall economy much worse off — except for a few well-connected people and firms. The 2010 … read more >

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

Were those bank stress tests really this useless?

James Pethokoukis | March 13, 2013, 10:38 am

Recent Fed stress tests of the 18 largest US banks showed 17 have the capital base to withstand severe recession scenarios, including this bad boy: Reflecting the severity of the stress scenario–which includes a peak unemployment rate of 12.1 percent, … read more >

Economics, Financial Services

Qualified Mortgage rule is a trap for the unwary

Peter J. Wallison | March 4, 2013, 9:40 am

Here’s a scary thought: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray—and whoever is writing his speeches—doesn’t understand the Qualified Mortgage rule or its implications for lenders. In a recent speech to the Credit Union National Association reported in the … read more >

Economics, Financial Services

The devil is in the details part II: Regulators mull making the QRM definition identical to CFPB’s new ‘Qualified Mortgage’ rule

Edward Pinto | February 26, 2013, 3:39 pm

Last month it was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) promulgating its Dodd-Frank Act mandated Qualified Mortgage rule (QM). Dodd-Frank imposed QM to set minimum mortgage standards. Yet it is now being touted as making sure “prime” loans will be … read more >

Economics, Regulation

A great idea for protecting small business from the regulatory state

Henrik Temp | February 7, 2013, 1:24 pm

America’s regulatory apparatus continues to grow, with one study estimating 106 new major federal regulations added in just the first three years of the Obama administration. Since 1994, we’ve added about 300 new regulations per year, as the chart from … read more >

Image Credit: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Economics, Pethokoukis

Dallas Fed president: Time for Congress to break up the big banks

James Pethokoukis | January 17, 2013, 12:57 pm

Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed, has been a proponent of breaking up America’s biggest banks and ending Too Big To Fail. In a speech yesterday, he floated a plan on how to do it. 1. Under our proposal, … read more >

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore (Flickr) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Pethokoukis

If Bobby Jindal wants to end bank bailouts, here’s a way to do it

James Pethokoukis | November 14, 2012, 12:43 pm

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a possible 2016 Republican presidential contender, is on to something when he says Republicans must rethink their approach to financial reform. For one thing, the Obama-Dodd-Frank law probably doesn’t prevent future bailouts of large financial institutions. … read more >