The libertarian host of ABC News' 20/20, John Stossel, has a newish blog out that is a great source if you trade in Free Minds and Free Markets. A recent snippet:
At my Princeton Reunion a few weeks ago, I participated in a panel called Wall Street, K Street, and the New Regulatory Era. Of course the panel turned out to be: 4 lawyers plus me. All the lawyers explained why my pro-free market argument was naïve. The lawyer to my right, Beth Wilkinson, not just a Washington lawyer, but the wife of Meet the Press host David Gregory, even personalized her argument by saying "John" while trashing the deregulation I championed.
It was all in good fun, however, and today it was more fun to discover that a few days later, one member of the audience, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, talking about hedge funds and private equity funds, said: "I do not believe they need to be so closely supervised and regulated as depository institutions. A presumption of government protection and support for financial institutions outside the "safety net" should be avoided."
I'd also like to remind the eager-to-regulate crowd that when the market tanked, the highly regulated banks suffered most. When their market capitalization was down about 50%, I remember that the unregulated hedge funds were only down about 18%. So why is regulation always the "solution?"
Stossel teamed up with Reason.tv to make the recent special Bailouts & Bull. Get a whiff below.
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Seward|6.17.09 @ 3:35PM|#
Why isn't it naive to think that government regulation is the solution? After all, regulation has a very poor track record.
Alan Vanneman|6.17.09 @ 4:00PM|#
You lost me at "At my Princeton reunion ..."
|6.17.09 @ 4:21PM|#
An eagle could land on his mustache!
|6.17.09 @ 4:31PM|#
Causing him to suspend bitching about frivolous lawsuits just long enough to file one against the eagle.
But he'd come to regret it later.
|6.17.09 @ 4:32PM|#
An eagle could land on his mustache!
My eyes well up with patriotic tears at the very thought of it.
MaryJane Cannabian|6.17.09 @ 4:44PM|#
I'm so thankful that you have brought attention to the Charlie Lynch / Owen Beck stories, keep up the press about the utter failure of the War on People! (or as Gov likes to say, the War on Drugs)
|6.17.09 @ 5:40PM|#
So why is regulation always the "solution?
When your only tool is a hammer...
Helper|6.17.09 @ 10:32PM|#
John Stossel is hiding something. He just seems to be hiding something. It's a gut thing.
Art-P.O.G.|6.18.09 @ 5:12AM|#
That he's one of the ten clones of Freddie Mercury dispatched after the death of Mercury Prime with one goal and only one...WORLD DOMINATION!?
|6.18.09 @ 11:03PM|#
Maybe you should ask the Californians about deregulation. They'll be happy to tell you how well it worked with Enron.