Senator Byron Dorgan’s (D–ND) proposal to ban what he calls “gambling” with “naked” swaps is deliberately calculated to evoke images of a wild weekend playing strip poker in Las Vegas. Regrettably it is Dorgan’s policy proposal that is bereft of intellectual or empirical cover. Dorgan’s game of politics on…
Persuaded that lax regulation of financial derivatives contributed to the 2008 financial crisis, policymakers in Congress and the Obama Administration have adopted a knee-jerk solution: regulate everything. The Obama Administration has proposed and the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees have each approved schemes for…
Eighteen months after the financial crisis, Senator Chris Dodd (D–CT) and the Obama Administration are suddenly in a hurry to pass financial reform legislation, including blanket regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.…
Abstract: In response to the recent financial crisis, the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve Board are capping executive salaries and bonuses, and imposing a host of new regulations and mandates--all in the name of reducing risk. If the rule of…
Understandably concerned over taxpayer-subsidized bonuses, the Obama Administration appointed a "pay czar" to oversee compensation at firms receiving substantial government backing, such as GM and AIG. Regrettably, the Administration did not stop with government-aided companies but proposed a sweeping plan regulating private-sector pay.[1] On July 28, the House Financial Services Committee approved…
As Congress and the Obama Administration consider changes in financial market regulation, much attention is focused on once obscure and still poorly understood financial instruments known as credit default swaps (CDSs). The House Agriculture Committee has approved legislation that would restrict who may own CDSs and where they may be traded. The Obama Administration has…
[W]e need to streamline a framework of overlapping and competing regulatory agencies. Reshuffling bureaucracies should not be an end in itself. But the large, complex institutions that dominate the financial landscape do not fit into categories created decades ago. Different institutions compete in multiple markets--our regulatory system should not…
The current financial crisis has many causes; there is plenty of blame to go around. While immediate action was necessary to stabilize the banking system, policymakers need a better understanding of the roots of the crisis before making permanent changes. Depression-era regulatory structures must be brought in line with a globalized 21st-century economy, but hasty…
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(Archived document, may contain errors) 3/10192 175 ANATOMY OF A 1ITEWASH: HOW TO JUDGE THE ETHICS COMMITTEE REPORT ON THE HOUSE BANK SCANDAL (Updating Ftecutive Memoran&m, No. 3 10, "'Rubbergate': Five Steps to Avoid a Whitewash," October 9, 199 1.) After a five-month investigation, the…
Bloomberg news has an article on Wall Street pay revealing that the CEOs of many large banks have taken big pay cuts in...…
Senate Democrats secretly agree that Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s (D-AR) proposal to attempt to impose a complete separating...…
As debate on the Wall Street “Reform” bill winds down in the Senate, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is still pushing his ban...…
Senators Kerry and Lieberman have introduced their “compromise” climate change legislation that relies largely on a...…
It makes a future market melt-down more likely. Today the Senate takes up Senator Blanche Lincoln’s amendment to...…
The Wall Street Journal reports that Barack Obama’s favorite capitalist, Warren Buffet, is seeking an exemption from...…
Sponsors of derivatives “reform” legislation claim it will reduce costs to derivatives users. Just how more government...…
One of many bureaucratic boondoggles in the Senate financial “reform” legislation is a “Bureau of Consumer Financial...…
So now President Obama is threatening to veto financial reform legislation Democratic leaders in Congress are working to...…
Senator Chris Dodd’s monstrous 1336-page financial reform draft includes a whopping 217 pages devoted to “improving”...…
Basis to Appoint an Independent Financial Markets Commission Three Reasons to Appoint an Independent Financial MarketsCommission: 1) The causes of the financial crisis are unclear. 2)The federal …
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