Today I met with a big development executive, whose business is doing just fine, and isn’t in trouble over the financial meltdown. But he is absolutely outraged at Chris Cox and the SEC.
“Why?”, I asked. “What has he done? He seems like the convenient whipping boy of the day.”
“It’s what he hasn’t done,” my friend replied. “He doesn’t believe in regulation.”
“That’s not good enough,” I said. “What do you know that’s specific?”
He paused. “That’s easy,” he said. “If three years ago, he had insisted that these banks and investment companies actually report the genuine value of their holdings, instead of allowing them to pretend that they were worthwhile investments, we would have had problems. But it wouldn’t have been like this. It wouldn’t have festered for 3 years and required some sort of trillion dollar bailout.”
Not a bad argument, it seems to me. Those more conversant with securities regulations and SEC jurisdiction are welcome to comment.