Obesity and genetics

Read Americans Blame Obesity on Willpower, Despite Evidence It’s Genetic by Gina Kolata.

Trump's Transition Team: Dismantle Dodd-Frank

The statement is here.  Excerpt:

* * * Federal policy should focus on free enterprise, while protecting consumers by policing markets for force and fraud.  Both Wall Street and Washington should be held accountable. 

Following the financial crisis, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act, a sprawling and complex piece of legislation that has unleashed hundreds of new rules and several new bureaucratic agencies.  The proponents of Dodd-Frank promised that it would lift our economy. Yet now, six years later, the American people remain stuck in the slowest, weakest, most tepid recovery since the Great Depression.  Paychecks have been stagnant.  Savings are being depleted, millions are unemployed or underemployed, and millions more have dropped out of the workforce altogether.  Economic growth remains below 2%, about half the historic average.  The big banks got bigger while community financial institutions have disappeared at a rate of one per day, and taxpayers remain on the hook for bailing out financial firms deemed "too big to fail." 

The Dodd-Frank economy does not work for working people.  Bureaucratic red tape and Washington mandates are not the answer.  The Financial Services Policy Implementation team will be working to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act and replace it with new policies to encourage economic growth and job creation.

Paul Bland: The Swamp on Steroids: Trump’s Plan to Repeal Dodd-Frank Will Enable Corruption

Here.  The whole piece is worth reading, but here's an excerpt:

Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign was filled with a lot of bold talk about “draining the swamp” and fighting against lobbyists. He attacked Hillary Clinton for her supposed cozy relationship with banks, and talked about how he’d stand up to Wall Street on behalf of the little guy.

That was then. 

Now, he wants to grant banking lobbyists’ every wish. While the first few days after the election have brought little clarity on most topics (maybe he won’t repeal the Affordable Care Act after all, or maybe he will), Trump has made one very specific promise – to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act.

* * *

Simply put, before 2008, a federal agency was enabling banks to cheat consumers, and blocking those banks’ customers from fighting back.  And that’s why Dodd-Frank included numerous provisions designed to make it much harder for federal regulators to wipe away state laws.

The rampant fraud that cost people their homes, and also cheated millions of investors from their savings, was encouraged and abetted by a corrupt system where government regulators worked hand-in-hand with banks.

That’s the model the Trump Administration is poised to take us all back to.

* * *

 The [federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] weighed in on 60 court cases between 1994 and 2006 where consumers who felt they had been cheated were suing banks. The OCC (dependent on bankers’ good will for its budget) sided with the banks in 58 out of the 60 cases.

But wait; the OCC did even more for big banks. The agency issued regulations erasing state consumer protection laws, and replaced them with . . . nothing.

Two more articles about financial regulation under the next Administration

"Obama Officials Work Against Time to Wrap Banking Rules"

U.S. officials are striving to put finishing touches on a slew of banking rules before President Barack Obama leaves office and hands regulatory power to Donald Trump who has vowed to rewrite the existing financial rule book.

President-elect Trump will take over on Jan. 20 and his fellow Republicans will have control of Congress and government agencies, allowing the new administration to block or roll back many of the last-minute changes.

....

Some rules are meant to flesh out the Dodd Frank Act of 2010 designed to prevent the next global financial crisis. Trump campaigned on a pledge to scrap the law but now he says only some provisions must go to lighten the regulatory burden.

The Federal Reserve is working on rules to govern matters such as executive pay, market stability and what investments Wall Street may hold. ... The SEC and bank regulators have also for years struggled to finalize a rule that would tie more banker pay to the long-term health of their firms rather than short-term performance of Wall Street firms.

The New York Times article is here.

"Americans could lose this important consumer watchdog under Donald Trump"

President-elect Donald Trump says he would “dismantle” Dodd-Frank, the legislation that gave birth to the federal consumer watchdog. And his election, combined with the Republican sweep in Congress, gives leverage to the lawmakers and financial groups looking to rein in the independent agency’s powers.

The unfriendly environment in Washington is coming just weeks after the CFPB was dealt another major blow. Last month, a federal appeals court ruled that the agency must be restructured so that the director could be removed at will, marking a major win for Republicans and industry groups looking to limit the independence of the agency.

The agency is widely expected to appeal the ruling, but it’s not clear whether that move would be enough to keep Trump from replacing CFPB director Richard Cordray once Trump takes office. This week, amid growing worries about the future of the CFPB, Cordray sent an email to his staff urging them to focus on the work ahead.

The Washington Post article is here.

The future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Right after the election, Jeff Sovern wrote for this blog on the future (if any) of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under a new President (and a Congress controlled by the President's party). There's been a lot written on the topic in just the last few days, and I know it's something our readers are interested in. Read about it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Back in May, Trump promised to nearly "dismantl[e]" the Dodd-Frank legislation (which created the CFPB) because the law has "made it impossible for bankers to function."

 

Cell Phone Number as the Key Personal Identifier

This article in the New York Times discusses the increasing role of the cell phone number as a key personal identifier and source of credit-related information.  Should it receive privacy protection comparable to the Social Security Number?

Study: What Are Student Loan Borrowers Thinking? Insights From Focus Groups on College Selection and Student Loan Decision Making

Here (costs $48), form the Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning. Here's the abstract:

This study used data from online focus groups collected from November 2014 to April 2015 to understand college students' decision-making processes when borrowing money to finance their education. Data were collected using an online course management system. Results suggest that (a) students relied heavily on advice from parents, guidance counselors, and friends; (b) attending college was not possible without student loans; and (c) students knew very little about the loans they would be responsible for repaying. Recommendations for financial educators and counselors to help student borrowers make prudent decisions about education debt are presented.

I haven't read the article (and at that price, may not) but it's interesting, though not surprising, that the federally-mandated disclosures didn't get mentioned in the abstract as a source of information.

Bloomberg BNA: Trump Presidency Creates Uncertainty for Arbitration Rules

Here. The entire article is worth reading, but I've pasted in an excerpt below.  (HT: Gregory Gauthier)

“Trump and his businesses seem to have been big proponents of arbitration, using it as a way of getting disputes out of courts and therefore out of the public eye,” defense attorney Liz Kramer told Bloomberg BNA. Kramer, of Stinson Leonard Street LLP in Minneapolis, writes for her firm's blog Arbitration Nation.

“Given his overall ‘change' message, and repeated criticism of all things Obama, my gut tells me his administration will roll back these regulations,” she said.

Defense attorney Alan S. Kaplinsky, who leads the consumer financial services group at Ballard Spahr in Philadelphia, agreed. The election could, in particular, “spell very bad news for the CFPB” and its regulatory efforts, including those aimed at limiting class action waivers in credit card agreements and other financial service products, he said.

“Proposed rules pertaining to arbitration and small dollar lending are in jeopardy,” he said.

* * *

Plaintiffs' attorney Deepak Gupta, a prominent opponent of arbitration, agreed that Trump's “mandate reflects a deep distrust of Wall Street and the financial system” and that might work in favor of consumers and workers.

“Nobody really thinks he was elected because his supporters think Wall Street should get a free pass,” said Gupta, the founding principal of Gupta Wessler PLLC, a Washington public interest law firm.

Clarence M. Ditlow III, Who Saved Lives as Auto Safety Advocate, Has Died

Sad news.  Times obituary here. 

More Deregulatory Wishlists for New Administration

The Trump transition team has indicated that the new administration's strategy for Dodd-Frank is likely to be piecemeal dismantling rather than wholesale repeal, according to multiple reports, including this one by NPR.

Meanwhile, the auto industry hopes the new administration will roll back targets for fuel efficiency, according to the Hill, while the Credit Union National Association has called on the CFPB to put a moratorium on all new rules (except, of course, rules that would reduce regulatory requirements), also according to the Hill.

This is the time of year for writing letters to Santa Claus, after all.

Proposals for legislation, of course, remain subject to potential Senate filibusters, and modifying mileage standards would require agency rulemaking. The CFPB also seems unlikely to stand down completely.

Nonetheless, with the same party controlling the Presidency and the Congress, a deregulatory agenda will definitely be ascendant, and it's not surprising that the advocates of that agenda may feel a bit like kids in a candy shop this week.