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The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, also known as the Dodd-Frank Act, is a law with consequences for every part of the financial system. Its new regulations are far-reaching, imposing many new restrictions on financial instruments and activities and a new group of government regulators with enforcement powers over various sectors of the market. The new regulatory powers include a consumer protection agency and a single federal bank regulator.
Before Dodd-Frank was passed, supporters of the new regulations argued the current regulatory system had not done enough to prevent or mitigate the recent financial crisis. They stated the nation would suffer widespread damage to the economy unless Congress imposed greater government intervention in preventing predatory lending practices and directly ameliorated the fallout from financial institution failures by guiding their sale or dissolution.
Opponents of the new Dodd-Frank regulations argue the policies repeat many of the government’s recent mistakes and still fail to address the most pressing problems of the regulatory system. The law’s critics also say the additional regulatory barriers to lending and higher capital requirements for banks will deepen the credit crunch by making new credit less available to investors and entrepreneurs.
Certain portions of the new regulatory system under Dodd-Frank remain unimplemented, but the economy is now beginning to experience some of the effects of the new regulations. Financial institutions across the country are fighting to prove themselves not “too big to fail” and avoid the new regulations.
The following articles discuss the effect of the new Dodd-Frank regulations on several areas of the economy.
Dodd-Frank Act: How Financial Reform May Be Going Wrong
http://business-ethics.com/2011/06/05/1821-from-dodd-frank-to-dud-how-financial-reform-may-be-going-wrong/
[3]This article by Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein from ProPublica discusses several causes for concern in the implementation of Dodd-Frank, including its effects on derivatives markets and credit rating agencies. The authors also discuss the problems created by poorly defined regulations such as the Volcker rule.
The Dodd-Frank Act: What it Does, What it Means, and What Happens Next
http://www.firepolicy-news.org/article/30177
[4]This article by John Lester and John Bovenzi of Oliver Wyman Financial Services examines several new regulations created by Dodd-Frank and outlines their possible effects on the banking industry. While acknowledging some claims about Dodd-Frank’s effects may be overblown, they warn negative unintended consequences are a real risk that must be taken seriously.
Insurance Regulation and the Dodd-Frank Act
http://www.firepolicy-news.org/article/30178
[5]This paper by Scott Harrington of Networks Financial Institute discusses several key issues regarding implementation by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) of the Dodd-Frank Act’s provisions affecting insurance.
Dynamic Federalism and Consumer Financial Protection: How the Dodd-Frank Act Changes the Preemption Debate
http://www.firepolicy-news.org/article/30180
[6]This paper by Jared Elosta examines how Dodd-Frank changes the relationship between state and federal consumer financial protection authority and helps resolve the preemption dilemma. It argues Dodd-Frank promotes “dynamic federalism,” in which overlapping authority and competition between state and federal regulators of consumer financial protection can make the preemption dilemma much less difficult.
Towards an Alternative Regulatory Culture
http://reason.org/news/show/alternative-regulatory-culture-dodd
[7]Anthony Randazzo of the Reason Foundation discusses several problems with the Dodd-Frank regulations and suggests how to solve them.
The GOP’s (Quiet) Wall Street Reg Rollback
http://www.frumforum.com/the-gops-quiet-wall-street-reg-rollback
[8]Eli Lehrer, vice president for Washington, DC operations at The Heartland Institute, discusses efforts by congressional Republicans to turn back several provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The Dodd-Frank Act: Creative Destruction, Destroyed
http://www.fi