Showing archive for: “CFPB”
Geoffrey Manne on Interesting doesn’t necessarily mean policy relevant
Geoffrey A. Manne is Executive Director of the International Center for Law & Economics and Lecturer in Law at Lewis & Clark Law School The problem with behavioral law and economics (and its behavioral economics cousin) is not that it has nothing interesting to say, but rather that the interesting things it has to say ... Geoffrey Manne on Interesting doesn’t necessarily mean policy relevant
Do Republicans Hate Behavioral Economics?
Ezra Klein has an interesting blog post covering Peter Diamond’s nomination to Federal Reserve Board. The standard refrain in this debate has been something like: “See! The Republicans blocked Diamond and now he won the Nobel — don’t they look silly now.” I don’t find the particular issue of comparing Diamond’s qualifications as an economist ... Do Republicans Hate Behavioral Economics?
Misbehavioral Economics: The Case Against Behavioral Antitrust
In a policy speech earlier this year, Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch of the Federal Trade Commission advocating the incorporation of behavioral economics into antitrust analysis suggested one concern that others might have with the approach was that “behavioral economics was simply liberalism masquerading as economic thinking.” The Commissioner himself has been a vocal proponent of ... Misbehavioral Economics: The Case Against Behavioral Antitrust
In Elizabeth Warren We Trust?
Todd Zywicki chimes in (WSJ): The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is one of the most powerful bureaucratic positions ever created in the American political system. It can regulate or ban almost every consumer credit product in the country, yet it is beyond Congress’s power of the purse because its budget is guaranteed ... In Elizabeth Warren We Trust?
Which CFPB Will We Get?
Todd mentions Elizabeth Warren’s “kick off” speech for the CFPB, in which she accepts the new “President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury?” gig, and tells us what the new Bureau is all about: The new consumer bureau is based on a pretty simple idea: people ought to be able to read ... Which CFPB Will We Get?
Behavioral Economics and Consumer Financial Protection for “Nitwits”
In a recent NY Times column largely devoted to improving soccer in various ways and how those methods might be used to improve financial regulation as well, behavioral economist and Nudge author Richard Thaler writes the following about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: “Above all, I’d urge the head of this agency to devise rules ... Behavioral Economics and Consumer Financial Protection for “Nitwits”
More on Elizabeth Warren on Theory and Interpreting Data
With all the talk about the CFPB, Elizabeth Warren has been in the news lately. The blogs too. Most of the discussion has been about whether or not Timothy Geithner is a friend or foe to the Democrats’ preferred option of getting Warren nominated as the first chief of the CFPB. Today, Megan McArdle started ... More on Elizabeth Warren on Theory and Interpreting Data
When political preferences masquerade as political necessity
Josh has recently discussed his thoughts about the intellectual trajectory of the newly-minted CFPB and how that intellectual trajectory might influence the selection of the Bureau’s first director–presumed to be either Michale Barr or Elizabeth Warren. His is a brief, dispassionate and intellectually-honest assessment. But given Simon Johnson’s brief, intemperate and intellectually-devoid assessment of the ... When political preferences masquerade as political necessity
A “Plain Vanilla” Proposal for Behavioral Law and Economics
I’ve been, for some time, a behavioral law and economics skeptic. Sometimes this position is confused with skepticism about behavioral economics, as in — believing that behavioral economics itself offers nothing useful to economic science or is illegitimate in some way. That’s not true. Now, I have some qualms about the explanatory power of some ... A “Plain Vanilla” Proposal for Behavioral Law and Economics
Nudging Antitrust? Commissioner Rosch’s Weak Case for “Behavioral Antitrust” (Part 1)
Increasingly, the notion that updating antitrust policy with the insights of behavioral economics would significantly improve matters for consumers. Others have called for more major surgery, favoring an outright rejection of the current economic foundation of antitrust policy — and especially the portions of the foundation “Made in Chicago” — in favor of a new ... Nudging Antitrust? Commissioner Rosch’s Weak Case for “Behavioral Antitrust” (Part 1)
Who Will Run the New CFPB and How Will They Run It?
The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is right around the corner Talk has now turned to who might run the powerful agency and what it might do. The WSJ names names: Democratic leaders in Congress say their top pick for the post is Elizabeth Warren, the high-profile Harvard law professor and an outspoken critic of ... Who Will Run the New CFPB and How Will They Run It?
Judge Posner on Financial Reform and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Judge Posner offers his thoughts on financial reform, mostly negative, at Bloomberg. The thrust of the essay is that the financial regulation produced by the political process has, at best, a poor nexus to the actual causes of the economic crisis, and that what we are left with is primary reorganization and reshuffling to look ... Judge Posner on Financial Reform and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
