Daily Archives: 23 February 2018

A Satirical Paean to the CFPB

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Todd Zywicki, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, has written one for The Wall Street Journal.

Yet despite its rocky start, the original promise of the CFPB is sound: to protect and empower consumers, promote fair and competitive markets, and stabilize the financial system.

At least, I hope it’s satirical; it’s hard to believe that Zywicki could be this naive.  Some examples:

Working with the private sector and Congress to reverse this growing exclusion of Americans from the financial sector is a moral imperative.

To turn Herb Croly’s words around a bit, the average Federal bureaucrat is morally and intellectually inadequate to serious and consistent conception of his responsibilities as a democrat.  The private sector needs no Congressional or bureaucratic organization to function inclusively; it needs only a free market unhindered by bureaucrats’ intrusions.

The bureau can help unleash the power of FinTech by invigorating dormant tools like the no-action letter program and Project Catalyst….

Sure—the bureaucracy should do better by pushing other bureaucracies. Gotta be satirical, right?  Right?

The CFPB should concentrate its efforts on empowering families….

[Sigh]  Not by differently purposing an intruding a bureaucracy, but by getting rid of it.  Sounds like Zywicki was serious rather than satirical.

The CFPB must go.

Trusting Russia on Ukraine

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The US and Russia, along with NATO and Ukrainian officials, talked about setting up a peace-keeping force to get and maintain peace in Ukraine.  Interestingly, that force would be placed along the front that separates the Russian and rebel-held eastern Ukraine from the rest of the nation instead of being on the Ukrainian border with Russia.  The proposal also carefully ignored the status of Russia-occupied Crimea.  A US counterproposal, offered by the US’ chief negotiator, Kurt Volker, suggested that the force should include, also, that border—not instead of the front—while still ignoring Crimea.

During a panel discussion held by a number of former US diplomats that included Mike McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia and Volker, McFaul asked Volker

Tell us why the factors are different in this particular case that would lead to a different scenario than a permanent division that we have in Cyprus[.]

Volker’s answer?

Mr Volker said the peacekeeping plan would only work if both the Ukrainians and Russians want peace.

Who’s definition of “peace?”  Russia doesn’t want peace except on occupation of eastern Ukraine, retention of Crimea, and control over rump Ukraine.

Volker is a rabbit remonstrating with a Russian bear. Volker thinks the Russian ways are wrong. Russia thinks Volker is lunch. He’s embarrassing us.