Topic: Americans

citizens and nationals of the United States of America

Real Clear Markets: Credit Card Rate Caps Will Lead To a Shortage of Credit Cards

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date January 19, 2026
1 Comment on Real Clear Markets: Credit Card Rate Caps Will Lead To a Shortage of Credit Cards

Why a national credit card rate cap would shrink access and worsen inequality.

Tags Affordability Crisis, Capital Allocation, Command Economy Policies, Consumer Credit Policy, Consumer Debt, Consumer Finance Research, Consumer Protection Policy, credit access, Credit Building, Credit Card Accounts, Credit Card Interest Rates, Credit Card Limits, Credit Card Rate Caps, Credit Card Regulation, Credit Card Rewards Programs, Credit Contraction, Credit Market Infrastructure, Credit Markets, Credit Rationing, Credit Underwriting, Digital Payments, Donald Trump Economic Policy, Economic Freedom, Economic Inequality, Economic Policy Analysis, Federal Reserve Bank Of New York, financial inclusion, Financial Mobility, financial regulation, Financial Risk Pricing, Financial Stability, Fraud Protection, Free Market Economics, Household Debt, Household Finance, Housing Affordability, Inflation And Cost Of Living, Interest Rate Caps, Lending Standards, Market Distortions, Milton Friedman, Monetary Policy, National Interest Rate Cap, Online Commerce, Patrick M. Brenner, Payment Systems, Price Controls, Prime Borrowers, Regulatory Overreach, Southwest Public Policy Institute (SPPI), Subprime Borrowers, Temporary Government Programs, Trump Credit Card Proposal

Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

The Real Story Behind What’s “Inside” Your 401(k)

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date December 17, 2025
No Comments on The Real Story Behind What’s “Inside” Your 401(k)

Why collective investment trusts deliver lower costs without sacrificing fiduciary protections.

Tags 401(k), Asset Allocation, Capital Markets, Collective Investment Trusts (CITs), Cost Efficiency, Defined Contribution Plans, Department of Labor (DOL), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans, Excessive Fee Litigation, Expense Ratios, Fiduciary Duty, financial inclusion, Financial Journalism, financial regulation, Financial Services Policy, Independent Auditors, Institutional Investing, Investment Choice, Investment Fees, Investment Oversight, Investment Transparency, Investor Education, Investor Protection, Jason Zweig, Legal Risk, Liquidity Management, Long-Term Investing, Market-Based Retirement Solutions, Mutual Funds, Plan Fiduciaries, Plan Sponsors, Portfolio Diversification, Private Assets, Private Credit, Private Equity, Regulatory Risk, Retirement Litigation, Retirement Plan Costs, Retirement Plan Governance, Retirement Planning, Retirement Policy, Retirement Reform, Retirement Savings, Retirement Security, Risk-Adjusted Returns, Target-Date Funds, Target-Date Investing, Third-Party Valuation, Trial Lawyers, Valuation Standards, Wall Street Journal, Wealth Building, Workplace Retirement

Budget and Spending Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Government Regulation Government Spending Health Care Life Medicare Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Public Opinion Top Issues Updates Welfare

Rural Medicare Advantage Customers See Decreased Options

Post author By Lucas J. Parker
Post date November 7, 2025
No Comments on Rural Medicare Advantage Customers See Decreased Options

As the December 7 Medicare Open Enrollment deadline approaches, rural seniors face shrinking coverage options as major insurers scale back Medicare Advantage plans nationwide.

Culture Debt Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Housing Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty and Inequality Public Opinion Reader Replies Top Issues Transparency Updates

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Reply Is the Real Joke

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date October 25, 2025
No Comments on The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Reply Is the Real Joke

Mortgage Bankers Association

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s slow, self-serving defense of the 30-year mortgage proves that lifetime debt, not homeownership, is the product they’re really selling.

Culture Debt Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Housing Markets and Finance Political Thought Public Opinion Reader Replies Transparency

Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part II

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date October 9, 2025
2 Comments on Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part II

When The Wall Street Journal published my op-ed, “The Case Against 30-Year Mortgages,” I expected disagreement. What I didn’t expect was the flood of thoughtful, funny, and occasionally fiery responses from readers across the country. Read the full series here. Some wrote to debate, others to commiserate, and a few to wonder aloud whether the […]

Culture Debt Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Housing Markets and Finance Political Thought Public Opinion Reader Replies Transparency

Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part I

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date October 9, 2025
4 Comments on Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part I

After my recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, “The Case Against 30-Year Mortgages,” readers had plenty to say. Some were critical, most were kind, and many brilliantly insightful. Below is a selection of responses, shared anonymously for privacy, that reveal how deeply Americans feel about the strange alchemy of homeownership, debt, and the illusion […]

Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

RealClearMarkets: Sen. Richard Durbin’s Long-Term Love Affair With Price Controls

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date September 25, 2025
No Comments on RealClearMarkets: Sen. Richard Durbin’s Long-Term Love Affair With Price Controls

Originally published at realclearmarkets.com on September 22, 2025. Senator Dick Durbin has spent much of his career in a love affair with price controls. He flirted with them in his infamous Durbin Amendment, the addendum to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. He renewed his vows with Senators Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley in pushing a 10 percent ceiling on credit […]

Alaska Arizona California Colorado Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance Nevada New Mexico Oklahoma Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Public Opinion Texas The Constitution Top Issues Updates Utah

Fox Business: Credit card rewards are about to vanish, and guess who’s to blame?

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date April 5, 2025
1 Comment on Fox Business: Credit card rewards are about to vanish, and guess who’s to blame?

This isn’t just about miles and points; it’s about economic freedom and financial choice.

Tags Banking, Consumerism, Credit, Credit Card Rewards, Credit Card Rewards Programs, Credit Cards, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Durbin Amendment, Finance, Interchange Fees, Summer Vacation, Swipe Fees, Travel

Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

RealClearMarkets: The Real World Intrudes On Sanders and Hawley’s Rate Cap

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date February 12, 2025
No Comments on RealClearMarkets: The Real World Intrudes On Sanders and Hawley’s Rate Cap

A national credit card rate cap may seem consumer-friendly, but history and state-level experiments shows it shrinks credit access and pushes borrowers toward costlier alternatives.

Tags Bernie Sanders, Borrowing, Credit Cards, Donald J. Trump, Lending, Rate Cap

Conservatism Courts Crime and Justice Domestic Policy Energy & Environment Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Government Regulation Government Transparency and Accountability Infrastructure & Technology Legal and Judicial New Mexico Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Renewable Energy The Constitution Top Issues Transparency Transportation Updates

Albuquerque Journal: Government hiding data showing EV mandates disproportionately burden lower-Income families

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date September 1, 2024
2 Comments on Albuquerque Journal: Government hiding data showing EV mandates disproportionately burden lower-Income families

New Mexico’s lack of transparency and fabricated data on electric vehicle mandates raises serious concerns about their disproportionate impact on lower-income families and the erosion of democratic accountability.

Tags Clean Energy, Electric Vehicle Mandates, Electric Vehicles, Income, Lower-Income Families, Mandates, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Open Government, Transparency