Think tanks

Think tanks

Cry Wolf Quotes

The Community Reinvestment Act should be repealed--not reformed or restricted but repealed! For no conceivable set of regulations on a bank is consistent with the objective of the Act to meet ‘the credit needs of its entire community, including low and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operation of such institution.’ The Community Reinvestment Act was the wrong solution to a genuine problem, for the most part created by other government regulations. Until recently, federal restrictions on interstate banking and state restrictions on intrastate branching severely restricted bank competition in local markets and the potential for geographic diversity of loan portfolios. These restrictions have been substantially reduced, promising a more competitive banking system that is more responsive to the interests of both depositors and borrowers and less vulnerable to adverse economic conditions in specific regions...Don't try to fix the Community Reinvestment Act. It can't be done. Repeal it.

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William A. Niskanen, Chairman, Cato Institute. Testimony, Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, House Committee on Banking and Financial Services

Maryland legislators’ good intentions do not change the fact that living wages result in job loss, particularly among the less skilled and less educated.

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Jenkins, Jill, Employment Policy Institute.
09/28/2007 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

The problem is raising the minimum wage actually hurts, not helps, low-income workers. Minimum wage laws make it illegal to have a job that pays below the government mandated limit. If that wage is more than a job provider will pay for a certain job, then no worker can get—or keep—that job.

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Martin, Catherine, Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
03/01/1999 | Full Details | Law(s): Minimum Wage

Mandatory recycling creates waste and destroys wealth without solving any "problems." It is the equivalent of Soviet planning: the state first micromanages an economic activity and then builds an elaborate system of controls and subsidies to sustain it. Resources are wasted to generate recyclables, and then resources are wasted to encourage their use.

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Cato Institute