Are the banks being strangled by over-regulation? It's a fascinating debate that is playing out in Congress now. Certainly the House thinks so, and has passed a bill repealing many/most of the regulations established after the financial crisis.
But, recent data show that the dividends banks are paying are near an all-time high, having recovered from the 2008 plunge.
Lending totals are also high, albeit off their record levels of late 2016.
It seems that banks have found ways to cope with whatever regulatory burden Washington has placed on them. This isn't to say that the regulations couldn't be improved to be better targeted at the true risks in the system. But a glance at actual lending activity, as well as the profits of the banking system as a whole, leads one to conclude that not only are banks not being "strangled", they are, in fact, thriving in this regulatory environment.