Financial regulation

November 29, 2016

Financial deregulation expands opportunity

The Dodd-Frank Act became law in 2010, adding more regulation to a banking industry that was already heavily regulated. The main purpose of this 2,300 page act was to give consumers protection against big profit seeking banks but the unintended consequences prove to be much greater. Continue Reading...

June 25, 2014

A Cultural Case for Capitalism: Part 10 of 12 — The Free Market that Wasn’t

[Part 1 is here.] Some might answer any defense of the free economy by pointing to the housing and financial crisis that came to a head in 2008, holding it up as proof positive the free economy is a wrecking ball swinging through communities and leaving all manner of economic and cultural destruction in its wake. Continue Reading...

August 19, 2013

Infiltrated Hits NYT Bestseller List, Exposes Dodd-Frank

Former Acton research fellow Jay Richards has another bestseller, as of last night–Infiltrated: How to Stop the Insiders and Activists Who are Exploiting the Financial Crisis to Control Our Lives and Our Fortunes. Continue Reading...

May 08, 2013

The Regulators Are Coming for Bitcoin

Last month, in my series on Bitcoin, I wrote that for the crypto-currency to succeed it will one day have to become trusted by more mainstream consumers, which requires adding such features as regulatory oversight and a centralized monetary authority—the very features of other currencies that Bitcoin was created to avoid. Continue Reading...

September 23, 2011

Shareholder Activism on the Rise – from Nuns and Unitarians

The Manhattan Institute’s Proxy Monitor project is aimed at “shedding light on the influence of shareholder proposals on corporations.” It provides a thorough analysis of proposals made from 2008 – 2011 by activist investors — and believe it or not, only 35 percent of those proposals were related to corporate governance. Continue Reading...

June 29, 2011

Personal Morality and Government Oversight

Elise Amyx recently published an interesting post about the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, focusing on financial regulation. Another interesting look at regulation concerns the “Ponzi scheme” that Bernard Madoff was apprehended for three years ago. Continue Reading...

June 27, 2011

Dodd-Frank: Regulation Cannot Build Character

Dodd-Frank regulations, originally scheduled to take effect on July 16, are intended to create market stability. Instead, they are doing just the opposite. Regulations aimed at financial derivatives, incorporated into the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that was signed into law last July, have recently been rescheduled to take effect on December 31. Continue Reading...