President Donald Trump’s Chief Tech Support Officer Elon Musk has done a remarkable amount of very good work in the less than two months Trump has actually been in office.
His Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has identified and quantified hundreds of billions of dollars of federal government waste. And has done so whilst only thus far examining a tiny fraction of the monstrously huge federal government.
Included therein is a lot of very good work in the government’s monstrous overregulation of the financial sector. One of the hugest of many huge good deeds Musk and DOGE have done is close the monstrous Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
About which Musk had previously said on his X: “Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies.”
Indeed there are WAY too many duplicative regulatory agencies. Even if you are solely focusing upon the government’s financial sector overregulation.
Here’s some more: The Feds currently operate TWO deposit insurance funds. (I would prefer they operate zero. But I’m a zealot.)
You’ve heard of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), yes? A font of one of the funniest unintentionally funny lines of all time: “Backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.”
The FDIC runs the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF). Which: “(I)nsure(s) the deposits and protect(s) the depositors of insured banks….” And currently has about $133 billion in assets.
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) – of which you almost certainly haven’t heard? Has its Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). Which: “(I)nsure(s) members’ deposits in federally insured credit unions.” And currently has about $21 billion in assets.
I’d like to see DOGE close the entirety of the NCUA. And have the FDIC handle both banks AND credit unions. But I’m a zealot.
DOGE should at the very least close the NCUA’s Insurance Fund. And have the FDIC’s Insurance Fund handle both banks AND credit unions. This certainly isn’t at all zealot-y.
The two agencies are doing the same thing: Insuring deposits. The receptacle of those deposits doesn’t matter.
My actual home insurer is also my actual car insurer. Because my insurer is in the insurance business. And houses and cars are FAR more varied than bank deposits and credit union deposits.
Deposits are just piles of money. A government entity insuring a pile of money in a bank – can certainly also insure another pile of money in a credit union.
The benefits of the government’s deposit insurance consolidation are obvious. You certainly streamline the process. Which means less redundant employees and regulations. Which means less wasteful government overhead. For both the government and the banks and credit unions.
By insuring both banks and credit unions together – you broaden the insurance base. Which allows for greater stability of the deposit insurance fund. This bank or that credit union going under will make less waves in the larger risk pool.
This government consolidation will almost certainly lower the cost of government for banks and credit unions. And the expansion of the risk pool should also lead to lower insurance premiums.
All of which means banks and credit unions will have more money to do, you know, bank and credit union stuff. Like lend money to us.
Which is the ultimate point of everything Musk, DOGE and the Trump Administration is doing.
Making things better, easier and cheaper for We the People.