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Category

Regulation

• 02.08.10
  Where those risky loans came from
  Regulation (0)

  It wasn't just the Community Reinvestment Act that got us into this mess. The problem wasn't merely that HUD under Mr. Cuomo was raising the volume of risky loans for which taxpayers were guaranteeing. HUD was also encouraging a dangerous decline in underwriting standards at these government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Says former Fannie Mae chief credit officer Edward Pinto, "HUD commissioned much research aimed at forcing the adoption of more flexible lending standards by the GSEs." WSJ article, "Prosecutor, Charge Thyself : Andrew Cuomo has more to answer for than does Bank of America."
  
  
• 02.05.10
  Auto safety regulation has come to an end
  Regulation (0)

  This is corruption. No possible good can come from a meeting between the chief regulator and the CEO of one of the companies being regulated. This is not how regulation is supposed to work. This is just an opportunity for political pressure and political concessions. Either the cars have defects or they don't. A meeting behind closed doors between the CEO of Toyota and a representative of Public Motors is not going to establish any facts. It's not going to make cars any safer. The ...
  
  
• 02.01.10
  Building codes disenfranchise young people
  Regulation (1)

  "Building codes disenfranchise young people. Give me a break." That's what one of Paul Jacob's commenters replied in response to his article, "Who Killed Disco." The guy didn't mean to, but he provided a nifty five-word summary of an all-too-real phenomenon. My own comment after reading some of the other comments: It seems there are some people for whom is is not so important that people are safe, but for whom it is very important that we have government regulations that require safety. It’s an interesting psychological phenomenon.
  
  
• 01.30.10
  Sticky linkages
  Regulation (0)

  In the fall of 1964 the movie version of Nikita Khrushchev calls General Kuraev to ask (according to the English subtitles) "Then why your colleague killed himself?" The answer: "If you mean Colonel Glushko, he had some troubles with his family life." This conversation took place because Khrushchev had been tipped off about vague things going on behind his back. Glushko had learned about them in greater detail, but he was killed by Khrushchev's enemies before he could report to those who needed to be warned. To Khrushchev, the murder is described as a suicide due to ...
  
  
• 12.19.09
  Regulation doth also now save us
  Regulation (0)

  Remember how people said the financial crisis meant we needed more regulation? Recently there have been reports like this one in the WSJ. There also has been in-fighting among different bank regulators, with each debating the health of giant financial institutions, say people familiar with the matter. Sounds like banks and other businesses had better spend less time trying to figure out what their customers want, and more time trying to figure out what regulators want.
  
  
• 12.09.09
  Uttermost farthing
  Regulation (1)

  In olden times, if you got too far in debt to pay back your loan, you would get thrown in prison and would not be let out until you paid the uttermost farthing. Of course, it was difficult to generate enough income to come up with those farthings while you were in prison. To some people this system seemed counterproductive if not unjust. It motivated them to come up with a better method, such as bankruptcy court. But now the Obama administration is taking us back to the older ways. According to Monday's WSJ, Citigroup and Wells Fargo would ...
  
  
• 11.18.09
  Sameness yields inequality
  Regulation (0)

  Russ Roberts at Cafe Hayek gives us an excellent summary of the downside of universal standards. To which I will add that if you have universal standards, you can much more easily have a winner take all, which means greater inequalities in wealth and income. (Equality of standards yields great inequalities of wealth.) If you have universal standards, then it is easier for the biggest, baddest (i.e. most efficient) institution to gobble up the others and become too big to fail, which then means huge bailouts and/or other corruption. ...Rather than have ...
  
  
• 11.15.09
  Job qualifications
  Regulation (0)

  I presume it's not a surprise to anyone that Bank of America is having some difficulties in getting its preferred candidate to take the CEO job, given that any compensation package is subject to review by President Obama's czar-operative, Kenneth Feinberg. [URL] The scary part is that they will find someone to take it. They might even find someone who is adequate enough to do the job. But it will be someone who is politically compromised, and/or willing to become politically compromised. Sort of like we've seen with General Motors.
  
  
• 10.29.09
  Net neutrality and blocking popular websites
  First Amendment, Regulation (0)

  The FCC seems to be interested in implementing some sort of "net neutrality" regulation. If people think that means ISPs wouldn't be able to block certain types of traffic, they should also be aware that the Homeland Security Department is asserting that is has the power to order ISPs to shut down popular sites during emergencies. Well, everyone agrees that the government needs the power to do almost anything to ensure our existence as a country in the face of a grave threat, don't we? In other news, President Obama has declared swine flu ...
  
  
• 10.15.09
  David Harsanyi and the Urge to Regulate
  Limits on government power, Regulation (0)

  "For some people, the urge to regulate is as strong as the urge to copulate." That is the commented I posted in response to a David Harsanyi article at the Denver Post: Who is David Harsanyi? I never heard of him until I followed the links on a Russ Roberts article at Cafe Hayek. Now that I've looked at a sample, it looks like he will be a good one to watch. Here's how today's article begins: How can Americans be expected to wrestle with the myriad of dangers that confront them each day? Insalubrious cereal? Unregulated garage ...
  
  

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