Debates continue among Congressional members and industry leaders regarding the form of insurance regulation in the U.S. Regardless the form of regulation they support – state regulation, national regulation or optional federal chartering – they all agree that the insurance industry must be...

This paper discusses the SEC's regulation of the bond rating industry. Until a few years ago this specific branch of SEC regulation was largely unknown outside the agency and the bond rating industry itself, even among knowledgeable Washington insiders. But the SEC has actually regulated the...

Consumer driven health care (CDHC) is a potential solution to two perplexing problems: (1) How to choose between health care and other uses of money, and (2) how to allocate resources in an industry where normal market forces have been systemically suppressed. In the consumer-driven model,...

As recovery from the present economic crisis begins, policymakers must address what reforms will be made in financial system in order to prevent the reoccurrence of a similar crisis in the future. What will Congress do in response? In terms of long-term financial reform, what is to be expected...

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), established by the Dodd-Frank Act, has the extraordinary authority to designate financial firms as systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs). Firms so designated are then turned over to the Fed for “stringent” regulation. FSOC’s...

Small banks have an important role in financing economic activity through their financial services for small businesses. There has been a sharp decline in the number of small banking organizations in the U.S. since the early 1980s. A continuation of this trend would raise important issues about...

Financial literacy has assumed greater importance in our society as the result of the increasing complexity of financial products and the simultaneous cutting of economic safety nets by government, employers and even parents who worry about their own retirements. If the problem isn’t solved...

This paper examines the design of a federal regulatory structure for insurance companies in the United States, assuming some form of an optional federal charter is adopted. Any design must take account of the objectives of insurance regulation, the convergence of financial service powers among...

The paper looks at the changes in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation assessment process since the passage of the Dodd-Frank legislation. It outlines some of the changes made to the insurance premium rates as well as the calculation of the deposit assessment base, and examines how the...

This paper is based on remarks prepared for the Indiana University Business Conference sponsored by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, March 8, 2006, in Indianapolis, Indiana.