In a poll, Greeks tested highest in all of Europe for mastery of personal financial issues. Here’s what this impossible finding means
Financial Regulation
Can the Federal Government Really Deter Insider Trading?
It’s been two decades since Michael Milken, a.k.a. the junk-bond king, pleaded guilty to securities fraud following a blockbuster insider-trading investigation that shined a light on bad Wall Street behavior during the go-go …
Regulatory Report Card: How Effective Was Mary Schapiro as SEC Chair?
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro announced yesterday that she would be stepping down from her role in December, marking the end of one of the most eventful four-year periods in the SEC’s history.
When she assumed the Chairmanship of …
How to Help Stay-at-Home Spouses Get Credit Cards Without Risking Our Financial Institutions
A regulation requiring proof of personal income in credit card applications has justly been described as “anti-housewife”. The rules hurt the ability of nonworking spouses to access credit and build their own independent credit standing. There is a smart solution to the problem—but it’s not the one currently being proposed by the …
Why So Many Americans Don’t Have Bank Accounts
At a time when you can pay bills online and deposit checks remotely using a cell phone, it’s amazing how many Americans don’t have bank accounts. One in nine households is without a checking account.
The People’s Bailout: Occupy Wall Street Wants to Forgive Your Debt
During the height of the financial crisis, the federal government pulled out all the stops to ensure the survival of the nation’s largest financial institutions. Along the way, shareholders and creditors of big Wall Street …
With Obama Win, Wall Street Cop Stays On the Beat
This week’s election was a cliffhanger for many people, but the stakes were higher than most for the director and staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency, which opened its doors in July 2011, was a …
What Should Be Done About Growing Inequality?
Many factors contribute to increasing inequality. Public policy should focus on eliminating only the bad ones
25 Years Later: In the Crash of 1987, the Seeds of the Great Recession
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” This quote, often attributed to Mark Twain, resonates with us for its pithy description of an irony we encounter everyday: In a world marked by rapid technological, …
Viewpoint: How Wall Street Rigs the Game
If you watched the recent presidential debates or the Republican and Democratic conventions, you might have gotten the impression that the practices of Wall Street that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression …