On financial issues, the president’s speech was a mixture of worthy goals and worrying generalities.
For instance, he announced that “First, we are creating a new lending fund that represents the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans, and small business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running.”
Is this some new federal lending fund that will compete with banks and other financial institutions? If so, the new fund would appear to weaken the very financial institutions that he wants to strengthen.
However, then he went on to list restrictions that would make it much harder to accomplish his goals, and given the statements of the president’s allies in congress, may result in attempts to micro-manage a crucial part of the economy.
Finally, he asked congress “to move quickly on legislation that will finally reform our outdated regulatory system. Continue reading…
