Eric Floyd

Investors use the payments as a proxy for financial strength

The principles of transparency and disclosure are visible everywhere from fast-food menus to financial regulation. But if lawmakers don’t consider the behavior of both markets and consumers, better information may not translate to smarter shoppers.

Policymakers have succeeded in using financial regulation to effect nonfinancial change.

Ever since the 2007–10 financial crisis, banks in the United States have been asking regulators for the right to resume and increase dividend payments to shareholders.