A Missed Opportunity?

So, three weeks have passed since our last entry here at BB&R. We were off the rails for a bit, but are firmly back on them now, and there are things happening that may interest you.

For instance, the White House has announced that its Chief of Staff, William Daley (yes, of the Chicago Daleys) will not participate in the search to identify a nominee as the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. According to this Bloomberg report, the decision was made largely because Mr. Daley is a former J.P. Morgan Chase executive committee member, which makes him too friendly with the bankers. While this appears to be a good decision (albeit because Mr. Daley already has a reasonably demanding job, rising gas prices, a sluggish economy, an Executive Administration, and somewhere between two and three wars currently on his plate--and not because of his perceived bias), it seems like a missed opportunity for the White House.

So far, the President has done little to disabuse anyone in the industry of the idea that the CFPB will be a powerful protector of consumers at the expense of the industry, or that those who run the bureau will lean decidedly more to the left on consumer issues than center or right. Would Daly's involvement have helped to placate some in the industry and bring more legitimacy to the process? Perhaps. Our bet is that it was Daly himself who chose to stay out of the ring on this one. It's going to be a bruising battle.