This paper uses the standard economic framework for designing government regulations to evaluate the Federal Reserve Board's proposed cost-based price caps for debit card interchange fees. We argue that the Board has not prepared an economically sound diagnosis of the problem that it is trying...

This paper examines the impact of the reductions in interchange fees proposed by the the Federal Reserve Board on consumers and small businesses. We find that consumers and small business would face higher retail banking fees and lose valuable services as banks rationally seek to make up as much...

This volume consists of seven articles on the economics and regulation of interchange fees. All rely on the multi-sided platform framework. The first two chapters examine whether there is a market failure in setting interchange fees and present principles for considering correction to a market...

In this study, we analyze the consumer welfare implications of regulating Rent-to-Own (RTO) transactions. We conclude that the benefits and costs of mandatory disclosure and labeling regulations currently imposed by most states are likely small, and that the effects of imposing a Federal...

By any measure, Google is one of America's most innovative companies of the last decade. Its search engine has literally changed the way people all around the world access information and conduct research. Google's ability to continue innovating, as well as the ability of other companies to do...

The conventional wisdom is that the surge in productivity growth which has surged in the United States over the past 15 years has been attributed almost wholly to advances in the production and use of information technology. While this is certainly evident from the statistics, a driving force...

The single most important policy reform that will boost long-term economic growth in the United States is to reduce the barriers facing highly skilled and highly educated immigrants. At least 50,000 workers with advanced degrees are sent out of the United States each year, although they have...