Inkeeping with our 2302 discussion about the factors which lead to the expansion of national governmental power comes the following:
The Obama administration on Thursday detailed its wide-ranging plan to overhaul financial regulation by subjecting hedge funds and traders of exotic financial instruments, now among the biggest and most freewheeling players on Wall Street, to potentially strict new government supervision.
The Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, outlined the plan Thursday before the House Financial Services Committee. He said the changes were needed to fix a badly flawed system that was exposed by the current financial crisis. Mr. Geithner, in his opening statement, called for “comprehensive reform. Not modest repairs at the margin, but new rules of the game.”
Included in the plan would be the establishment of one single agency “with responsibility for systemic stability over the major institutions and critical payment and settlement systems and activities.”
The scope of the national government increases, by and large, due to crises and the accompanying calls to handle the crisis. The regulatory structure in place is still based on the types of problems created during the Great Depression. What is now happening is an adjustment based on the types of financial instruments that have developed since then, and sit outside the regulatory jurisdiction of entities like the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Libertarians and conservatives might object, but we wouldn't be talking about any of this had the private transactions been on the up and up. If you don't want big government, behave.
