- Higher interest rates would "absolutely" help his bank, says former Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) CEO Dick Kovacevich, appearing on CNBC, and he sees the first Fed rate hike probably coming in September.
- It's government regulation to blame for the lame economic recovery, he says, as new rules strangle the economy's growth engines - small businesses. "The real problem with regulation is it really helps large companies. Large companies can deal with regulation. It's the high fixed cost that hurts small companies even more."
- Kovacevich says the small business owners his bank deals with put regulation above taxes in listing their problem issues.