The Financial Protection Agency
Even though the government appears unable to run its own two mortgage companies [Freddie and Fannie], the President wants to create an entirely new regulatory agency to police the financial decisions you make. I am not making this up. The new agency – the Financial Protection Agency – will be led by a financial regulatory “czar,” who will determine if the financial products you’re offered (credit cards, mortgages, home-equity loans) are “fair.”
Government Designed Financial Products for You
Government Designed Financial Products for You
According to the legislation that’s now proposed (Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009), the government will design a set of “standard” financial products that financial-products companies will be forced to offer. And the agency will have the power to forbid financial firms from making any competing offers if the government deems these products to be harmful.
The Czar
Who is the leading candidate for the position of financial regulatory ‘czar’? That person is an attorney named Cass Sunstein. He is currently the Felix Frankfurter professor of law at Harvard Law School. His newest book is Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. This guy clearly believes he knows what’s best for you.
Who is the leading candidate for the position of financial regulatory ‘czar’? That person is an attorney named Cass Sunstein. He is currently the Felix Frankfurter professor of law at Harvard Law School. His newest book is Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. This guy clearly believes he knows what’s best for you.
The Right to Home and Health Care
His previous book, in 2004 was The Second Bill of Rights: FDR‘s Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More than Ever. In this book, Sunstein explains why every American ought to have a legal right to a home, health care, and protection against “monopolies.” We already have anti-trust laws, so no problem there. We saw what happened when everyone has a right to a home, even when they couldn’t afford, so there’s a problem there. Health care is an issue that continues to be discussed. Not having read the book, I do not know what kind of health care system he espouses, though looking at his other publications, I imagine he is leaning towards a government run health care system.
His previous book, in 2004 was The Second Bill of Rights: FDR‘s Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More than Ever. In this book, Sunstein explains why every American ought to have a legal right to a home, health care, and protection against “monopolies.” We already have anti-trust laws, so no problem there. We saw what happened when everyone has a right to a home, even when they couldn’t afford, so there’s a problem there. Health care is an issue that continues to be discussed. Not having read the book, I do not know what kind of health care system he espouses, though looking at his other publications, I imagine he is leaning towards a government run health care system.
The Internet Weakens Democracy
He also believes the Internet weakens democracy (see his arguments in another book, Republic.com). He says the internet makes us stupid. The government, Sunstein believes, can provide you with everything you need. Uh, oh.
Consumer Protection
While I am all for consumer protection, I believe that the best way for the consumer to protect themselves is through education, and what better way to educate oneself than through research via the internet. Does the government think that Americans are dumb? Oh wait, maybe we shouldn’t answer that considering the thinking coming out of DC or Sacramento or talking to the average man or woman on the street.
The Markets
The markets continue higher and the headlines in the San Francisco Chronicle this week are that the market’s rise gives us new hope. It was on the front page rather than the front of the business page, and contrarians may take this as a sign that we are near the top of this current rally. We shall see.
Stay tuned.
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Filed under: The Global Investor
