Patrick M. Brenner
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Op-Ed
The Corner Post ruling on debit interchange fees is unfair to banks
The 8th Circuit’s ruling in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board ignores congressional intent, leaving banks unable to charge fees for reasonable expenses related to debit card transactions.
Originally published inAmerican Banker
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Policy Brief
Incremental Cost Has Multiple Meanings
The Eighth Circuit said “incremental cost” has one well-understood meaning, marginal cost; economics and federal rate regulation use the term in several senses, including one that spreads a service’s own fixed costs across its units.
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Op-Ed
Diesel Is Driving the Affordability Debate. A Rail Merger Could Help.
With Election Day a week out, voters keep telling pollsters the same thing: Prices are too high. Eighty-four percent of registered voters in a new AP-NORC poll called the cost of living one of the most…
Originally published inDC Journal
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Policy Brief
Transmission Without Representation
The Senate permitting bill would vastly expand the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s power, letting unelected federal regulators site transmission lines over state, local and community objections, and could shift the cost of blue-state renewable mandates onto…
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Policy Brief
The Debit Card Cap Goes Back to the Fed
The Eighth Circuit has set aside the Federal Reserve’s 21-cent debit card fee cap and ordered a rewrite built on marginal cost, a conflict with the D.C. Circuit that a ruling for the Board in Linney’s…
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Policy Brief
Rent-Pricing Bans Won’t Build Homes
Antitrust law already reaches landlords who coordinate rents through shared software; what has brought rents down is new housing, which a ban does not add.
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Policy Brief
Who Paid for the Debit Card Cap
Fifteen years into the debit card cap, Federal Reserve research finds that few merchants cut prices and that banks recovered much of the lost revenue from checking customers, a record that argues against extending the approach…
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Op-Ed
Banning rent algorithms will not build apartments
We must make construction attractive to developers.
Originally published inThe Washington Times
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Op-Ed
Markets Are Sending a Message on Energy; Texas Should Listen
Natural gas prices across the Southwest tell a story no courtroom can dispute. Gas futures have remained below $3 per million BTU through August, settling at $2.69 in the day-ahead market as of early October. In…
Originally published inDC Journal