More from the lovely state of Montana on Initiative 164 as November 2 approaches.

For all the voters out there, you should know that a 36% rate cap on a two-week payday loan would result in the elimination of an affordable credit option for consumers.   At a 36% APR, the total fee charged on a $100, two-week advance would be $1.38.  Payday lenders could not cover the cost of originating a loan, let alone meeting employee payroll and benefits and other fixed business expenses.  Just saying…

See full article in the Great Falls Tribune here.

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution makes an excellent observation about the conflicting liberal values of freedom of choice and government protectionism.

I am curious about the modern liberal take on autonomy and credit.  Let’s say that two gay men, of unknown health status, want to have informed, consensual, unprotected sex.  Should the law prohibit this?  I believe the answer is no.  Furthermore it is not just a matter of enforcement difficulty, it is a question of autonomy.  If you don’t think so, modify the example so that two heterosexual people want to have consensual but unprotected sex.  And so on.

The unprotected sex is riskier and less prudent than borrowing money at an annualized rate of two hundred percent.  Why prohibit one and not the other?  Many of the borrowers are being fooled, but others have legitimate reasons to seek the money, such as wanting to buy a birthday present for a visit to one’s child, living with a separated spouse.

While I appreciate the incredible journalistic commitment of time, energy and resources that it requires to simply repeat what someone has already written extensively in his book and restated several times in interview after interview, perhaps Ezra Klein would like to do some actual reporting?  The type of journalism that checks facts and speaks to both sides involved in an issue?  Perhaps not.

Well, Ezra, if you should happen to visit our humble corner of the Internet, I just wanted to point you to a couple things:

• CFSA’s resources to help consumers manage household finances
• CFSA’s Best Practices

Though I expect you’ll just take Rivlin’s word for it.  Nice reporting.

Borderzine spends a good third of this article discussing folks finding themselves in need of short-term credit and general credit tightening denying even consumers with good credit scores small-dollar loans that they need between paychecks.

It seems unreasonable then to jump into a criticism of payday advances, the one resource that consumers have for these types of loans.  The article is clearly poorly research, asserting that there are few regulations (in Texas, of all places, where there are quite a few) and repeating the cycle of debt argument without bothering to find out about the no cost extended payment plan.

Paul Krugman, op-ed columnist from the New York Times wrote a piece with an eye-catching title – “Curbing Your Enthusiasm.”  Minus the “-ing” of course, Instant Netflix really needs to add that show to the mix already).

Krugman wants to know why Obama keeps looking for love in all the wrong places.  He wants to know why Obama hasn’t yet done the “obviously right thing” by nominating Elizabeth Warren to run the CFPB.

Take a look here.

According to the Cars Blog on ConsumerReports.org, the Dodd-Frank Act would give the CFPB authority to regulate only direct dealer lending.  Most auto dealers act as brokers – providing loans from third-party lenders, such as banks and credit unions. The lenders and loans themselves will be under CFPB authority, as opposed to the people you buy cars from…in most cases.

A blogger for Democracy in America (a blog from the Economist) challenges Tyler Cowen’s take on Elizabeth Warren as head of the CFPB.

Elizabeth Warren continues to receive praise but her nomination, according to NBC’s Alexander Rosen, is not yet a “shoo-in.”  Other names being considered include: Michael Barr, assistant secretary for financial institutions at the Treasury Department; and Gene Kimmelman, chief counsel for competition policy and intergovernmental relations at the Justice Department.

Read full article here.

The Washington Post blog Light on Leadership lays out the skills that the head of the CFPB will need to perform the job effectively.

Of Elizabeth Warren, the writer says:

It is not at all clear that the prohibitive favorite for the job, Elizabeth Warren, has the requisite experience for the director’s job. She has been an academic for most of her career, but has almost no administrative experience.

Michelle Singletary throws a little hissy in the Washington Post today about payday lenders supposedly drawing from folks’ social security benefits.

I guess it doesn’t matter that CFSA denounced the same practice last week.

Lynn DeVault, board chair of CFSA, said she knows of no payday advance companies that engage in this practice and that the industry strongly supports efforts to block all lenders from gaining access to a borrower’s bank account through these sub-account arrangements.