Weekend Must Reads
Washington,
April 27, 2013 -
Wall Street Journal’s Mary Kissel: Disdain for the Courts
The House Financial Services Committee disinvited Consumer Financial Protection Bureau chief Richard Cordray from testifying Tuesday, noting President Obama's non-recess, recess appointment of Mr. Cordray and a January D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, Noel Canning v. NLRB, that invalidated other appointments made under the same pretense. In a letter to Mr. Cordray, Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling said his committee stands "ready to accept the testimony of the Director of the CFPB" when "an individual validly holds this position."
National Review Online: Jeb Hensarling on Richard Cordray
President Obama’s attempt to circumvent the Senate by unilaterally appointing Ohio politician Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may have been premised on his expectation that he would get away with it. If so, he seems to have miscalculated, because the other two branches of government are providing him with a Sesame Street demonstration of the concept of “checks and balances.”
Volokh.com: House Financial Services Committee Refuses to Invite Richard Cordray to Testify
Amazingly, CFPB spokesmen continue to insist that Noel Canning does not apply to Cordray’s improper recess appointment although they have provided no explanation as to why it does not.
New York Times: Possible Fed Successor Has Admirers and Foes
In July 1996, the Federal Reserve broke the metronomic routine of its closed-door policy-making meetings to hold an unusual debate. The Fed’s powerful chairman, Alan Greenspan, saw a chance for the first time in decades to drive annual inflation all the way down to zero, achieving the price stability he had long regarded as the central bank’s primary mission.
Washington Post: As Wall Street relies more on technology, social media can tilt the markets
The evolution of market news — from messages on homing pigeons to newspaper articles to round-the-clock wire reports — has taken yet another disruptive step with the arrival of Twitter on trading desks throughout the world.
Bloomberg: Central Banks Load Up on Equities
Central banks, guardians of the world’s $11 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves, are buying stocks in record amounts as falling bond yields push even risk- averse investors toward equities.
AEI: How Robin Kelly can ease Illinois' pain
The FHA exists to help first-time and low-income homebuyers achieve responsible homeownership. Sadly, the federal agency has strayed far from its historic mission and instead is setting families up to fail and saddling thousands of neighborhoods across America with high rates of home foreclosures.
