The Basel capital accords are a serious policy mistake. It's time to return to financial supervision that relies on good judgment and on-site examinations.
Dodd-Frank did its part to ensure the 20 federal financial regulatory agencies do right by minorities and women. How are things going so far? Good - but not great.
U.S. regulators led the world in developing Legal Entity Identifiers. Now that the G20 has embraced the idea, though, we need to get on the same page with other nations.
Firms may abandon prudent risk management practices such as hedging with derivatives to avoid the SIFI designation. Agencies should have to prepare the equivalent of an Environmental Impact Statement before slapping the SIFI stamp on a firm.
With new entrants from China, fresh capital could be made available to entrepreneurs and business owners who otherwise might fail to find financing. Also, remember the fears in the 1980s that the Japanese were buying up America?
If the government could eliminate contract rights in this way, then it would be hard to imagine what contracts could not be set aside in the name of market efficiency.
