As we have been saying for a long time, Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell stated after a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago that he does not see any proof that post-2008 crisis regulation have hurt the biggest banks:

“As you look around the world, U.S. banks are competing very, very successfully.  They’re very profitable. They’re earning good returns on capital. Their stock prices are doing well.  So, I’m looking for the case, for some kind of evidence that — and I’m open to this — some kind of evidence that regulation is holding them back, and I’m not really seeing that case as made at this point.”

He’s right.  There is no evidence supporting bank arguments that financial rules are holding back their revenues, profits, bonuses or lending.  Better Markets has demonstrated those facts repeatedly in meetings with policy makers and regulators, in letters to regulators, in our newsletter, in op-eds, in our blog, and at conferences, to list a few examples. 

The bottom line is that the Dodd Frank law and the related regulations have reduced the risk of a financial crash, have refocused our largest banks on lending to the real economy, and have protected consumers and investors.  All this has been done without holding back the financial sector from anything other than socially useless, high-risk activities and predatory conduct.