You’re in for a treat today…
Below you’ll find Matt Benjamin’s Building Wealth article from the most recent issue of The Oxford Communiqué.
Typically, this research is reserved for our Members…
But here at The Oxford Club, we want everyone to have the chance to ensure their financial wellbeing this (and every) year.
So here’s a taste of the hard-hitting research and analysis you can expect…
And even better, the newest issue will be published at 3:30 p.m. ET today. This includes a brand-new stock recommendation from Alexander Green.
Don’t miss out – find details on how to get access here.
Cheers to your wealth in 2025!
Nicole Labra, Senior Managing Editor
With deregulation of various U.S. industries high on the agenda for the second Trump administration, now is a great time to look at how that priority could impact consumers, the economy, and financial markets.
Of course, deregulation is not always and everywhere a good thing.
Nobody wants factories to dump waste into rivers or companies to eliminate safety protections for workers.
But if you dive into how overregulation hamstrings innovation and raises prices dramatically for consumers, you may be shocked…
You’ll quickly find that unnecessary and expanded regulation slows economic growth and innovation, depresses improvements in living standards, and costs the nation trillions of dollars a year – not to mention all the time lost to paperwork.
So it’s no surprise that certain U.S. industries could benefit from deregulation and that many of those benefits could be passed on to consumers.
Poised for Profit
As Alex mentioned on Page X, Trump has promised to eliminate 10 regulations for every new one introduced. Let’s hope most of the red tape he cuts is in these sectors…
Banking: Today, the banking industry is overseen by four federal regulators and 50 state agencies. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act created hundreds of additional rules for banks to comply with – many of which have little or nothing to do with making the banking system sounder. The result of this enormous regulatory burden has been a significant reduction in innovation and competition in the industry.
The new administration is expected to ease capital requirements and approve more mergers among banks, which would allow small banks to combine and compete more effectively with the industry’s dominant behemoths.
In the end, such competition would benefit consumers in terms of increased lending and better service.
Energy and infrastructure: Trump is proposing the elimination of some restrictions on offshore drilling and making it easier to get energy infrastructure projects like pipelines approved. This should increase U.S. energy independence and lower fuel costs for consumers.
In his first term, Trump signed an executive order giving federal agencies the ability to fast-track infrastructure projects ranging from ports and terminals to roads and nuclear plants.
U.S. infrastructure is badly in need of a major upgrade, and streamlining projects would go a long way toward achieving that goal.
Housing: While the U.S. economy has been the envy of the world in recent years, the massive housing industry remains a problem child. Housing has been in a rolling recession for several years due to a lack of supply – a shortage of some 4 million homes – and elevated mortgage rates.
New regulations on homebuilding have slowed construction considerably in recent years, driving home prices higher. And in several states – particularly Western ones like Arizona and Utah – huge parcels of federal land remain off-limits for building.
Add it all up, and homes have become unaffordable for many American families.
But Trump has promised to cut federal regulations on housing construction and open federal land for building. His proposals could remove some of these barriers to new construction and prove transformative to the ailing housing industry.
And there could be an added benefit: High housing costs were responsible for much of the inflation the nation saw over the past few years. Lowering those costs via new supply would further moderate inflation and allow the Federal Reserve to accelerate cuts to borrowing costs, making home purchases even more reasonable.
Bottom line: Sensible regulation is not a bad thing. But overregulation certainly is. Cutting some of it could make the regulatory state leaner and more efficient and, in the end, bring benefits to both markets and consumers.