Risk weights or leverage ratio? We need both (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/risk-weights-or-leverage-ratio-we-need-both/

The future of financial reform under President Trump (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-future-of-financial-reform-under-president-trump/

A dangerous new chapter in ‘too big to fail’ (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/a-dangerous-new-chapter-in-too-big-to-fail/

Time to fix our crumbling infrastructure (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

America’s aging infrastructure is slowing economic growth. Repairing what already exists and expanding it to meet our modern economy is a multi-trillion dollar effort. Despite wide-spread acknowledgement of the problem across the political, business, and labor spectrum, a serious effort has been lacking. The federal gas tax, the main source of federal road infrastructure funding, has not been increased in over 20 years. States and localities can only do so much without Uncle Sam and when the federal government acts, it is often in a siloed fashion without producing incentives for smarter investment.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/time-to-fix-our-crumbling-infrastructure/

Why don’t checks clear instantly? Ask the Fed. (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

Whenever you make a payment—with a credit card, a check, a wave of your iPhone—you’re piggybacking on a system built during a time of punch-card computing, a time when billions of paper checks were flown across the country to be physically sorted one by one. Today, living in a land of smartphones and click-to-same-day delivery, one would think the payment system would have evolved. It has not.

https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/why-dont-checks-clear-instantly-ask-the-fed/

Why the Wells scandal matters so much (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2016/09/21/why-the-wells-scandal-matters-so-much/

Why is Glass-Steagall so politically popular and what does it really mean? (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

Reinstating Glass-Steagall, the 1930s era signature financial regulation act, has achieved a rare feat, now included in both party’s platforms. How did this arcane, 80-year old law, suddenly become the trendy cure-all for our nation’s financial regulatory system?

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2016/07/19-why-is-glass-steagall-so-politically-popular-what-does-it-really-mean-klein

After Brexit, London can kiss fintech startup growth goodbye (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

London’s role as Europe’s financial services center has been called into question as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union – the “City’s” future in the world of finance is very much in doubt.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2016/07/11-after-brexit-london-can-kiss-fintech-startup-growth-goodbye-klein

Is Brexit good for America? Nope (Aaron Klein, DJ Nordquist, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2016/06/15-is-brexit-good-for-america-nope-klein-nordquist

The CFPB’s long-awaited rule on payday loans is a step in the right direction (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

On June 2 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a much-anticipated rule aimed at curtailing the predatory nature of some small dollar loans, often called “payday” loans. These loans, which are often the subject ofshocking news stories like this one, can trap borrowers in endless debt cycles due to the nature of the loans

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2016/06/02-cfpb-long-awaited-rule-payday-loans-step-in-the-right-direction-klein

Understanding non-prime borrowers and the need to regulate small dollar and "payday" loans (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

On May 18 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a hearing, schedule for June 2, at which it will likely release its long-anticipated proposed rule on the regulation of small dollar credit, often referred to as payday lending. This comes on the heels of Google’s announcement last week that it would no longer allow certain types of "deceptive financial products" for short-term small dollar loans to be advertised on its site using Google AdWords. Google follows Facebook’s earlier decision to do the same. Change in how small-dollar credit is regulated is coming

http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2016/05/19-nonprime-borrowers-and-need-for-small-dollar-and-payday-loans

Breaking up the big banks won't stop another financial crisis (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

In debating whether or not to break up the big banks, there is a key misconception that has to be put to rest by both sides: another financial crisis will occur, regardless. Financial crises are part of the economic framework of capitalism, whether they are based on Dutch tulip mania in the 1600s, the Panic of 1907 with runs on banks and trusts,, the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s, or the subprime mortgage meltdown of the last decade. History is clear, there is no magic solution to end financial crises based on the size or number of banks in a country.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2016/04/29-breaking-up-the-big-banks-wont-stop-another-financial-crisis-klein

Four questions to ask before breaking up the banks (Aaron Klein, Brookings)

Calls to break up the “big banks” remain part of the political and economic discourse, and understandably so. The financial crisis of 2008 has left a severe scar on the American economy and continues to impact the lives of millions of families. While leaders in charge during both the Bush and Obama Administrations rejected the idea of breaking up the big banks, significant and vocal supporters of break-up on both ends of the political spectrum continue to press their case including presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and former candidate Rick Perry. The debate often focuses on important questions of whether the current post-reforms of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory structure are sufficient to solve problems of systemic risk, financial stability, and too-big-to-fail, or whether a more radical approach is warranted. However, that framing is too narrow to produce the right answer.

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Aaron Klein, Brookings, is a fellow in Economic Studies and serves as policy director of the Initiative on Business and Public Policy. Previously, Klein directed the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative and served at the Treasury Department as deputy assistant secretary for economic policy.