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This is something, therefore we must do it

Reaction to the Great Big US Regulatory Reform Plan has been mixed.

Some has been negative:

I don't hear a call from the countryside for moving boxes around in Washington,
DC or the need for some omnipresent super- regulator.
I think most Americans would prefer that government do our jobs.

Understandable criticism from the CFTC since 1) as far as I can see they weren't involved in drawing up the Great Big Plan 2) they've only just heard about it; Walt Lukken said he hasn't had a chance to finish reading it yet! and 3) it involves abolishing them...

And some has been very negative:

there is a heightened risk of creating another bloated governmental agency, a la Homeland Defense and a possibility of interagency struggle for dominance... by proposing dilution of SEC’s current authority, it will increase the risk of more market volatility and potential for further influence by institutions using highly leveraged derivative trades... having the Federal Reserve monitor and supervise the investment banks only invites more bureaucracy and further dilutes the authority of the SEC...one could justly ask: “why are hedge funds and ISDA not on the proposal for regulation?” “Could it be intentional?”...

Read the full blueprint (pdf) here.

The comparison to Homeland Security seems apposite: responding to a crisis that "nobody could have anticipated" by creating a vast new overarching bureaucracy... at least it'll help unemployment.

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