Cra's 25th Anniversary: The Past, Present, and Future
This paper focuses on the past, present, and future rules and regulations implementing CRA as developed, applied, and enforced by the federal bank and thrift regulators. The past rules and regulations refer to those in effect during the law's first 18 years, through 1995, when CRA underwent its first major reform. The present CRA rules and regulations were adopted then, with the mandate that they would be reviewed for possible reform in 2002. The future rules and regulations are being drafted now by the regulators, based on their review of approximately 400 public comments; the reform recommendations should be released sometime during the second half of 2002. The future of CRA's legacy as arguably the perfect fair market regulation in a world of Compassionate Capitalism will depend upon the direction of these reforms. Optimal public policy by the bank and thrift regulators in this regard must represent the ideal balance between competing consumer and industry interests. This paper represents the first comprehensive analysis of the public comments and concludes with specific recommendations that will lead to optimal public policy.
Community Reinvestment Performance: Making Cra Work for Banks, Communities and Regulators
The equality and breadth of bank lending practices are under microscopic scrutiny from community groups, Congress, financial regulatory agencies and the media. To say that subjective interpretation and sporadic enforcement have made the Community Reinvestment Act one of the most controversial regulations ever imposed upon banking is an understatement. As front page headlines charge discriminatory lending practices, as CRA is linked to urban blight and the L.A. riots, and as previously confidential bank CRA ratings are disclosed, banking's least liked law becomes ever more controversial, emotionally charged and unpopular. Enforcement of CRA is high on the Clinton agenda in a shift from previous administrations. New justice department investigations, lawsuits and penalties, powerful and well-organized community groups, and heightened attention from the public and media all promise to make CRA the most talked about regulatory issue of the 1990s. Furthermore, it will increasingly become a major component in the approval of impending bank mergers and any proposed new powers for the banking industry. Yet, if the truth be known, CRA ratings are alarmingly subjective. While repeatedly alleged, these charges have never been documented - until now. In this seminal work, bringing together years of analysis and research, CRA expert Kenneth H. Thomas presents the first truly objective, in-depth evaluation of CRA assessment and performance. Dr. Thomas reveals actual cases of CRA grade inflation and deflation - including the previously unreported case of apparent regulatory favoritism involving the controversial acquisition of one of America's largest failed banks. Sure to spark additional debate,this landmark work is required reading for anyone in the CRA triangle - bankers, community groups and bank regulators. Community Reinvestment Performance sheds new light on banking's least liked law; uncovers what bankers, community groups and regulators really think about CRA; prov
The Prevalence of Dietary Supplement Use among College Students: A Nationwide Survey in Japan
To clarify the prevalence of dietary supplement use among college students, we conducted Internet-based nationwide questionnaire surveys with 157,595 Japanese college students aged between 18 to 24 years old who were registrants of Macromill Inc. (Tokyo, Japan). Among the 9066 respondents (response rate 5.8%), 16.8% were currently using dietary supplements. The prevalence of dietary supplement use did not differ significantly between males (17.1%) and females (16.7%). However, it increased according to their grade (13.1% to 20.5%), and it was higher in medical and pharmaceutical college students (22.0%) compared to others (16.7%). The main purpose of dietary supplement use was for the health benefits in both males and females. Other reasons were to build muscle in males, and as a beauty supplement and for weight loss in females. According to the purpose of dietary supplement use, the most commonly-used dietary supplements were vitamin/mineral supplements in both males and females, then protein and weight loss supplements in males and females, respectively. Although most students obtained information about dietary supplements via the Internet, they typically purchased the supplements from drug stores. Of the students surveyed, 7.5% who were currently using or used to use dietary supplements experienced adverse effects, with no significant difference between genders (8.8% in male, 7.0% in female). In conclusion, the prevalence of dietary supplement use increased with grade among college students in Japan. Some of them experienced adverse effects. Education may be important to prevent adverse effects resulting from supplement use in college.