Government Scares Companies Away From Facebook's Libra Project
After senators sent threatening letters to Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe, the companies "decided" not to sign on to the online payment system.
Financial Regulation
Elizabeth Warren's Plans Don't Add Up
The Warren worldview of ill-founded economic pessimism is both bloodless and moralizing.
Facebook's Libra Yields Before Congress. Bitcoin Can Never Be Controlled.
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez will never get to interrogate Satoshi Nakamoto.
Trump and Others Scared of Cryptocurrency Echo Earlier Fears About Cash
If there’s one thing government types can agree on, it’s that nobody should be allowed to buy and sell stuff without permission.
Warren Has a Plan To Help the Entrepreneurs She Screwed Over With Dodd-Frank
Warren proposes giving grants to minority-owned small businesses, but regulations she supported reduced access to capital for aspiring entrepreneurs.
The Fed Is Not the Answer for Real-Time Payments
There's an inherent conflict of interest when an agency serves as both a regulator and competitor.
America's Economic Health Has Improved
The U.S. rose four places in the International Tax Competitiveness Index, and this just the latest bit of good news.
FDIC Attempts to Pressure Banks into Denying Services to Payday Lenders Violates Due Process Rights, Lenders Argue
Lawsuit wants to curb actions like "Operation Choke Point' in which bank regulators discourage banks from servicing certain customers, including gun and ammo dealers.
House to Vote on 'Human Trafficking' Bill That Strengthens PATRIOT Act Spying
The PATRIOT Act fell out of fashion-but swap "human trafficker" for "terrorist" and let the civil liberties infringements roll!
Why Shouldn't a Free American Carry Hundreds of Thousands of Bucks in a Trader Joe's Paper Sack?
Entrapment prosecution of bitcoin exchangers highlights government's war on privacy.
No, Repealing the Volcker Rule Won't Cause an Economic Collapse
Instead of limiting what risks banks can take, the government should force banks to live with the consequences of those risks.
Congress Just Voted to Repeal a Few Bits of Dodd-Frank
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stays, but Obama-era regulations that suffocated small banks are toast.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
House Republicans Decide Some Dodd-Frank Reform Is Better Than None
After a monthslong showdown with the Senate, House leaders have agreed to pass a modest set of financial regulation reforms.
New York Officials Weaponize Regulatory Power Against the NRA
In a politicized environment, getting on the wrong side of regulators can be dangerous. Don't be surprised if banks and insurers cave.
Does Fractional Reserve Banking Pose a Threat to the Economy? Watch the Livestream.
Economists Robert Murphy and George Selgin face off at the Soho Forum.
Bitcoin Is Free Speech: Why Jamie Dimon Was Wrong and Governments Can Never 'Close It Down'
Cryptocurrency is just code, and code is just speech, which is why in the U.S., at least, it's protected.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Defenders of the CFPB's Newest Financial Regulation Are Ignoring Crucial Facts
Senate Republicans could vote as soon as this week to repeal the CFPB's ban on arbitration clauses.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Senate Republicans Aim to Block New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rule
It's the latest effort to use the Congressional Review Act to assert the authority of elected lawmakers over appointed bureaucrats.
Phoenix Neurologist is Charged With Selling Bitcoin Without a License
Federal application of banking law to bitcoin nets another victim.
The Financial Choice Act Doesn't Repeal Dodd-Frank, but It's Still a Big Deal
The House approved the bill with a party line vote on Thursday, but it's prospects are dim in the Senate.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Nevertheless It Persists: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Fights Trump, Congress, and Federal Courts in Effort to Remain Unaccountable to Anyone
The CFPB is fighting a three-front war against Congress, the Trump administration, and in the courts to maintain its unaccountable status.
Access to Obama White House Brought Companies Better Stock Performance, Study Shows
In "All the President's Friends: Political Access and Firm Value," finance professors outline three ways government meetings may be valuable to companies.
How Payday Lenders and Check Cashers Help the Poor
An Ivy League professor went to work in the industry to figure out why so many Americans choose to remain "unbanked."
Venezuela Reminds Us That Socialism Frequently Leads to Dictatorship
Nicolas Maduro's Venezuela is one place where Friedrich Hayek's most dire warnings remain relevant.
Banks Flagging Frequent Pharmacy Trips, Bulk DVD Rentals, and Other Ordinary Activity to Turn Over Tips to Government Snoops
All sorts of normal behavior are now triggering financial surveillance as banks try to comply with confused government policies on human trafficking.
Court Allows IRS to Order Bitcoin Exchange Coinbase to Give Up Their Customers' Identities
Attempts to make sure the feds can successfully tax pseudonymous bitcoin transactions getting serious.
California Bitcoin Regulatory Bill Pulled by Its Sponsor
Now-dead bill would have regulated anyone who ever used Bitcoin, and video games with in-game digital currencies with real world value, as if they were a professional money transmitter.
Google Is Banning Payday Lending Ads. That Sucks.
The ad giant's new policy is good-hearted but desperately wrong-headed.
Ted Cruz Takes a Stand Against Operation Choke Point
"The Obama administration initiated Operation Choke Point to punish law-abiding small businesses that don't align with the president's political leanings," says Cruz.
When It Comes to Wall Street Regulation, Bernie Sanders Has a Short Memory
Big banks needed government help to pull off the heist.
The BitLicense Regulation Is Eight Months Old. One Has Been Granted to Date.
How red tape is hurting the cryptocurrency industry.
Retailers Don't Need Another Regulatory Handout
Hidden consequences of banking regulation hurt poor people the most.
Operation Choke Point: The Government's Covert War on Small Business
A program meant to stamp out fraud has put a stranglehold on legitimate industries.
Lawman Johnny Lawsky's Legacy: Bitcoin Firms Flee New York
Ten startups have turned off their services in the Empire State to avoid applying for a BitLicense.
Hillary Ran Gamut From Goldwater Girl to Populist Demagogue in Economic Policy Speech
Notwithstanding her rhetoric about growth and empowering entrepreneurs, Clinton's speech was none too keen on capitalism.
New York Just Announced the Final Details of the BitLicense, a New Regulatory Regime For the Bitcoin Industry, and They're Pretty Frightening
The BitLicense will provide a "moat" protecting Wall Street from Bitcoin.
Benjamin Lawsky, Wall Street's Latest "Sheriff," Trades in His Badge To Take Money From the Companies He Used To Regulate
New York's top financial regulator prepares to turn his Rolodex into gold.
Bitcoin's Regulatory Nightmare Is About to Get More Frightening
New York's BitLicense will further complicate an already byzantine regulatory regime.
FATCA Victim, on Renouncing Citizenship: 'It was a gut wrenching experience that I do not think I will ever be over'
Heckuva job, Chuck Schumer et al
Kiss Your Financial Privacy Goodbye
American politicians are systemically destroying the right to confidential banking.
Dell Becomes Latest Mainstream Brand to Embrace Bitcoin
Dell is making cryptocurrencies more accessible to mainstream consumers by accepting Bitcoin on its website.
Dodd-Frank and the Age of Endless Regulation
In this age of endless regulation, it's hard to imagine that the legal and regulatory details of the law will ever truly be settled.
