CRITICS CALL OBAMA'S FINANCIAL OVERHAUL COSTLY, WASTEFUL

By Nathaniel Luce

Publication: THE TENNESSEAN

Critics of President Barack Obama’s sweeping new “rules of the road” for the nation’s financial system said Wednesday the changes would be costly and wasteful, while supporters said they were necessary to modernize regulations and protect consumers. Vanderbilt University associate professor LUKE FROEB, former director under George Bush of the Bureau of Economics at the Federal Trade Commission, said he fears giving a broad federal mandate to the Federal Reserve will distract the central bank from its mission of fighting inflation and unemployment — creating confusion for the marketplace.