You should read today’s WSJ article on the Greenspan’s legacy revisited. It discusses how today’s mess could have been prevented since the 1990s when several smart voices called for some regulation or oversight of the derivatives markets and hedge funds. At the very least, those voices wanted transparency if not regulation.
Transparency is key because no one knew (as we know today) that some players like Bear Sterns, etc., were leveraged 30-to-1 so it’s no surprise that a minor accident would bring the whole system down. Huge obligations in the trillions but tiny reserves? Insurers selling insurance against defaults without being properly capitalized? Yes, all that happened, but the worst part is that no adult was in charge.
But back in the 1990s Clinton’s Treasury (Rubin, Summers) and Greenspan forcefully resisted any talk of overisght. Even as the LTCM collapsed in 1998 threatening to bring the whole financial system down!
Today’s problem is bipartisan. Fannie & Freddie, with their muddy accounting, and outrageous salaries and bonuses paid to its executives, had congressmen of both parties in their pockets. Similarly, hedge funds and derivatives dealers stopped any attempt at reform through lobbysts.
This is not a failure of free markets; it’s a failure of regulators asleep at the wheel, it’s a consequence of cronyism, and a result of special interest lobbysts at their worst.
Check out your phone book and look for the Libertarian Party local chapter. You can ask questions without committing yourself. It’s time we stop the Republicrats and Demoblicans from selling the people’s interests to special interests.
