Reinventing Financial Regulation: A Blueprint for Overcoming Systemic Risk

CHAPTER 1

Reinventing Financial Regulation

Financial regulation has lost its compass and been led astray. The perspective of this book is neither that of the neoliberal who is instinctively against meddling regulators nor that of the unreconstructed Stalinist who is suspicious of private enterprise. If we are to finance better health and education for all of our citizens, we need economic growth. Growth requires risk takers. Too little risktaking starves the economy, feeding economic, social, and political malaise. Excessive risktaking allows a few players to flash brightly before plunging us all into darkness. To achieve a Goldilocks¹ amount of risktaking—not too hot, not too cold, not too large, not too little—requires a fresh take on financial ...