Following up a little bit on the thought from my Letter to the Editor:
I am well aware of the fact that Bill Clinton and many of his financial advisers went along with the deregulation push, and I don’t absolve them of that. I do think that the overall Clinton economic record of rising income and declining inequality is a goal worth re-attaining, but it sure does look like revising and re-instituting some regulation and oversight of the financial industry is gong to be vital. This is especially true since it seems to me like finance and investment is very dependent on belief creating reality – there has to be something to keep everyone’s faith intact.
In that light, I’m heartened to see that it looks like NY Times writer Paul Krugman believes that Senator Chris Dodd’s proposal has some real teeth in it to make corporate behavior more accountable to the country at large. I’ve already called one senator’s office to voice my support – although the staffer I spoke to seemed pretty disinterested; I’ll probably follow up with an e-mail after the hearings close today.