At ThinkMarkets, Chidem Kurdas
ponders the the eventual impact of the Dodd-Frank
financial regulation bill:
As Richard
Epstein writes in National Affairs, the new
financial law is notably vague and broad, granting vast discretion
to government bureaucracies, giving them the wherewithal to waive
or soften requirements for some parties while riding hard on
others.
Thus the rulemaking to implement Dodd-Frank created immense
opportunities for influence peddlers-they might celebrate the great
contribution Mr. Dodd made to their bottom line before he joined
their ranks.
A simple and transparent law to expeditiously shut down failing
large organizations would have been useful. An international
agreement to this effect with other financial hubs would have
limited the damage in failures of global companies like Lehman
Brothers, as would have reforming bankruptcy law. Instead,
Congress and the Obama administration chose to fashion an elaborate
bureaucratic straitjacket with unknown effects.
Dodd-Frank is a dud because its benefits are mysterious and
uncertain while the costs, in particular the damage to the rule of
law from expanding bureaucratic arbitrariness, are
predictable.
It's interesting that the Democratic health care bill provoked a
massive backlash and a repeal movement, while Dodd-Frank did not.
The financial regulation bill, arguably, will be just as damaging
as Obamacare in its long-term effects. The difference is probably
that Dodd-Frank is simply too confusing and complicated for people
to understand what it will do.
This is a long overdue comment on a government misstep as odious
as Obamacare. Its repeal should rank right up there with Obamacare,
but government has so effectively demagogued the financial services
industry that there is no public support for the effort. A
financial regulation bill written by Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and
their minions could never be anything but the disaster it is.
big bob| 6.1.11 @ 3:09PM
I have already heard from my compliance officer that I cannot
donate more than $150 to anyone, and I have to get permission to
donate to anyone. This is for anyone in the financial services
industry. It is a back door regulation that the left wanted after
losing the Supreme court case allowing contributions. This is pure
unconstitutional dogma. Where is the investigative media on this
one????
R Martin| 6.1.11 @ 1:37PM
This is a long overdue comment on a government misstep as odious as Obamacare. Its repeal should rank right up there with Obamacare, but government has so effectively demagogued the financial services industry that there is no public support for the effort. A financial regulation bill written by Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and their minions could never be anything but the disaster it is.
big bob| 6.1.11 @ 3:09PM
I have already heard from my compliance officer that I cannot donate more than $150 to anyone, and I have to get permission to donate to anyone. This is for anyone in the financial services industry. It is a back door regulation that the left wanted after losing the Supreme court case allowing contributions. This is pure unconstitutional dogma. Where is the investigative media on this one????