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To: dennisw
During the GW years we needed a lot more regulation of Wall Street and their credit default swaps

By then it was too late. What ended any chance of reasonable regulation were the bipartisan legislation in 1999 and 2000, signed by Clinton, to repeal Glass-Steagal and to override state laws on gambling on securities. The latter meant that, effectively, I could buy insurance on your house and collect if it burned down. Further the insurance company could sell its side of the contract to someone who may or may not pay me if your house burned down (I would have no say in that sale). Further, I could sell my part of the insurance contract to whoever I wanted to (your other neighbor who hates your guts and likes to play with matches).

Bottom line, the financial market was turned into a casino with many players (hedgies, Europeans, our own investment banks) betting on the failure of (in essence) each other.

56 posted on 02/20/2009 4:11:27 AM PST by palmer (Cooperating with Obama = helping him extend the depression and implement socialism.)
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To: palmer
This was a major mistake and was made by SEC in 2004

 

58 posted on 02/20/2009 4:37:54 AM PST by dennisw (Archimedes--- Give me a place to stand, and I will move the Earth)
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To: palmer
Financial markets have been casinos since they were formed. Contracts are only worth the paper they are written on if you deal with scoundrels.

What you are naming is the inherent impossibility of managing financial markets. Highly regulated markets still have crooks who game the system to their favor.

Regulatory bureaucrats are forever playing catch up to predatory and nimble crooks.

Or did financial fraud not exist until now?

65 posted on 02/20/2009 6:06:55 AM PST by 1010RD (First Do No Harm)
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