We need more, not fewer, government Yelps

[Commentary] Criticism of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting director Mick Mulvaney’s recent comments to a banking group has largely focused on his advocating a pay-to-play system for interest groups to access government officials. But similarly disappointing is his wanting to close the CFPB consumer complaint database, on the grounds that he shouldn’t have “to run a Yelp for financial services sponsored by the federal government.” Mulvaney has it backward. We think governments need more, not fewer, Yelp-like services in their arsenals. And conservatives should be particularly supportive of such innovations. Consumer-supplied information can reduce reliance on regulation and enforcement to protect consumers by encouraging market forces that reward better business practices. Closing the CFPB database would be a major step backward in what has been a remarkable information revolution in government. As a principled conservative, Mulvaney should be advocating for more apps that empower consumers to make better-informed decisions, drive improved markets and mitigate the need for more heavy-handed regulatory interventions.

[Levin is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. In 2009, he oversaw development of the National Broadband Plan. Downes is a project director at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy.]