Quote:
Originally Posted by sperbonzo
I have two issues with your post
One, on regulation:
There has NEVER been any "deregulation" that actually happened in the US. It's a political myth perpetuated to get us to buy into yet more regulations. |
No.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_crisis
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/s&l/
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/...3-england.html
etc etc etc
Apparently the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 wasn't about deregulation. ok.
Regarding the mortgage crisis of 2008:
If the repeal of Glass-Steagall wasn't deregulation, then i'm at a loss. It removed the previous regulation which stipulated that retail banks could not get into the investment banking business. That meant they were now free to make all sorts of wild bets with depositor's money.
In 1998, the CFTC proposed to regulate the derivatives market (which it oversaw), a $50
Trillion unregulated market/casino that included things like CDO's and Credit Default Swaps . It was shot down by the Clinton administration. In 2000 Chairman of the Senate Banking Committe (and future vice-chairman of UBS, hmmm) Phil Gramm introduced and got passed a law that basically prevented any regulation of derivatives.
So sure, that wasn't deregulation. It was the prevention of any regulation.
Also, the SEC's enforcement division's ability to regulate was systematically gutted by rules changes and dramatic staff cuts. It's pretty hard to regulate with your hands tied and a skeleton staff. That to me is blatant de facto deregulation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sperbonzo
And two, on human nature:
?If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind??
― Frédéric Bastiat,
In other words, people in government as just as bad, or worse, then the rest of us. The only difference is that they can use FORCE in order to make us comply with their decisions.
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This is just silly. So because all humans are imperfect and some are easily corrupted, we should just have no regulation at all? Please.