Wow, talk about nailing it on the head:
Dodd-Frank’s ‘too big to fail’ solution … is essentially a speed trap, designed to ensnare more and more firms under greater government control. It was never set up to avoid unsafe behavior in the first place. …
Here’s another reason the government might be inclined to create more SIFIs, and it’s part of the reason why Main Street should care about this issue: There’s money in it. Designating firms, particularly insurance companies, as SIFIs puts more money into the government’s Orderly Liquidation Fund. And since the fund is made up of fees levied on SIFIs, it’s consumers that end up shouldering the burden.
Setting aside the fact that the SIFI regime doesn’t necessarily make the system safer, Main Street gets hit another way: Reduced competition for business loans. GE Capital, in seeking to shed its SIFI designation, sold off most of its business-lending unit to Wells Fargo. This comes at a time when small businesses, especially in rural areas, are suffering from a lack of capital.
Read more about how Dodd-Frank doesn’t make consumers or banks safer.
