De-Regulation?

Enough time has passed to be confident in our understanding of the failures of the financial system (and human nature) that led to the financial crisis. I would suggest this combined with tamed emotions make it the proper time to prioritize new financial regulation. The whole idea of new regulation is to eliminate/regulate the causes, not to put a band aid on the effects. We already have palliative care through short-term, debt-inducing subsidies and stimulants. Long-term effects of cash for clunkers - 700,000 people have debt to pay down monthly, and a bunch of car dealers have to adjust their October 2010 sales numbers. It doesn't exactly build confidence in our economy (or government). While not very prudent, that is to be expected. The problem with any real change in government regulation is the power shift. The current struggle for power has nothing to do with democracy or free markets or anything American. It is cheating. Lobbyists are using undue influence over lawmakers (who are as much to blame) to do exactly what we don't need. Floyd Norris at the NY Times broke the story on how Washington is loosening the accounting regulations of Sarbanes-Oxley at the risk of investors.

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