Financial Regulation
Introduction
Herb Rotfeld comments on the White House proposals for financial regulation in the US
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Okay, you heard the news on the White House proposals for financial regulation.
Elizabeth Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School, was writing of related concerns a couple years ago, including in JCA.
- "Because of product safety regulations, exploding toasters and other dangerous products are rare in the American marketplace. Despite the fact that financial products can also be dangerous, with terms as incomprehensible as an electrical wiring diagram, regulation is far less comprehensive. Most financial regulation turns on the identity of the issuer—federal bank, state thrift, and private issuer—rather than on the product itself. Instead of using safety experts, financial products are regulated mainly by agencies whose principal responsibility is to protect the profitability of the financial institutions that issue the products. A Financial Product Safety Commission would provide coherent regulation of financial products, eliminating their most dangerous features."
For the full article, go to the Fall 2008 issue of Journal of Consumer Affairs.
Herbert Jack Rotfeld
Professor of Marketing
Editor, Journal of Consumer Affairs
Auburn University, AL
rotfeld@auburn.edu