Showing archive for: “Financial Regulation”
The Bulldozer Solution to the Housing Crisis
My inaugural blog on two-sided markets did not elicit much reaction from TOTM readers. Perhaps it was too boring. In a desperate attempt to generate a hostile comment from at least one housing advocate, I have decided to advocate bulldozing homes in foreclosure as one (of several) means to relieve the housing crisis. Not with ... The Bulldozer Solution to the Housing Crisis
A new approach to consumer regulation: firm ownership
We have heard a lot about how business exploits consumer biases and therefore we need more regulation and disclosure. By the time the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gets up to speed, maybe the regulators will realize their dream of consumers behaving as they should. In the meantime, Ryan Bubb and Alex Kaufman have another approach ... A new approach to consumer regulation: firm ownership
The Fate of the FCC’s Open Internet Order–Lessons from Bank Fees
Economists have long warned against price regulation in the context of network industries, but until now our tools have been limited to complex theoretical models. Last week, the heavens sent down a natural experiment so powerful that the theoretical models are blushing: In response to a new regulation preventing banks from charging debit-card swipe fees ... The Fate of the FCC’s Open Internet Order–Lessons from Bank Fees
A Macro Conference
I was invited to attend the Financial Times Global Conference “The View From the Top: The Future of America” and since I was in New York anyway I thought it would be fun. I don’t hang around with macro types much, and even less with liberal macro types. I will not summarize the entire conference, ... A Macro Conference
Ideas for growth
NASDAQ’s Bob Greifeld writes in the WSJ: According to the Small Business Association, small businesses accounted for 64% of the 15 million net new jobs created from 1993 through 2008. In 2010, only 51% of jobs in the U.S. were created by small businesses. In the 1990s, initial public offerings by smaller companies (those raising ... Ideas for growth
Zywicki on the Unintended Consequences of the Durbin Bank Fees
Here’s Professor Zywicki in the WSJ on the debit card interchange price controls going into effect, and their unintended but entirely predictable consequences: Faced with a dramatic cut in revenues (estimated to be $6.6 billion by Javelin Strategy & Research, a global financial services consultancy), banks have already imposed new monthly maintenance fees—usually from $36 ... Zywicki on the Unintended Consequences of the Durbin Bank Fees
What if the NCAA adopted Dodd-Frank?
Larcker & Tayan speculate, for example (footnotes omitted): Researchers have long noted that the compensation of college football coaches has risen faster than the compensation of other university employees. According to one study, the compensation awarded to head coaches rose 500 percent between 1986 and 2007. By comparison, the compensation of university presidents rose 100 percent ... What if the NCAA adopted Dodd-Frank?
Larry Ribstein on Deregulating Lawyers Whether They Like it or Not
Much of the writing on deregulating the legal profession asks skeptically whether it could or should happen. It was logical to wonder what could change when the profession was locked up tight by the lawyers themselves. What opposing political interest group was comparably well-organized or well-informed? Consumers could sue to break up the regulatory monopoly, ... Larry Ribstein on Deregulating Lawyers Whether They Like it or Not
SEC Organizational Reform Hearing
The semester is off to a bang. I arrived at Stanford Monday to start teaching in the Law School and begin a research fellowship at the Hoover Institution. Yesterday I hiked in the mountains overlooking the SF Bay. Today I am flying back to DC (and blogging in flight, how cool is that) to testify ... SEC Organizational Reform Hearing
Dodd-Frank and law’s information revolution
In Law’s Information Revolution, Kobayashi and I note that: a Davis, Polk & Wardwell LLP report on Dodd-Frank became a main way to access materials relating to this long and complex law. The firms hope to use these materials to generate business. Law firms might also sell subscriptions to more sophisticated materials or offer them ... Dodd-Frank and law’s information revolution
Incentive pay for bank regulators
Now that regulating banker pay has been studied exhaustively, here’s something else worth studying: bank regulator pay. Fred Tung and Todd Henderson are on the case, in Pay for Regulator Performance. Here’s the abstract: Few doubt that executive compensation arrangements encouraged the excessive risk taking by banks that led to the recent Financial Crisis. Accordingly, ... Incentive pay for bank regulators
2011 Illinois Corporate Colloquium: Shadab on credit risk transfer
The 2011 Illinois Corporate Colloquium got off to a good start with Houman Shadab presenting his paper, The Good, the Bad, and the Savvy: Credit Risk Transfer Governance. Here’s the abstract: Goldman Sachs and AIG on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis were bound together through a web of credit risk transfer (CRT) contracts ... 2011 Illinois Corporate Colloquium: Shadab on credit risk transfer
