In a new article on Dodd-Frank from the Heartland Institute, Andy Torbett writes:
Mark Thornton, a senior fellow with the Mises Institute, says Dodd-Frank has all but ended the days of the friendly, small-town neighborhood bank.
“Dodd-Frank has had a smothering impact on Main Street banking,” Thornton said. “You have to fill out large stacks of red-tape paperwork for a simple loan, and the banker’s liability does not end until the loan is paid off. It must be difficult for an independent bank without a full-time lawyer to compete under these conditions.”
Thornton says Dodd-Frank benefits large, powerful banking companies, instead of achieving its stated goal of protecting financial institutions of all sizes against rough economic times.
“The global goal of Dodd-Frank is to provide the illusion of regulation, stability, and confidence,” said Thornton. “Did it solve the ‘too big to fail’ problem? No. Those ‘too big to fail’ banks are even bigger and more powerful. It also provides politicians, regulators, and banksters the opportunity to manipulate the banking system for political or economic gain.”
Thornton says Dodd-Frank is about suppressing the finance and banking industries, not ensuring economic stability.
“They do not want an honest, stable system,” Thornton said. “What they are working towards is an oligopoly or oligarchy of banking, where you have a small number of very large government-privileged banks, where competition from small banks is effectively suppressed by bank regulations.”
