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Special Report: Bullish and Bearish on Financial Reform

In a special edition of the Mission Ahead, experts and advocates weigh in on the scariest economic crisis since the Great Depression — and what Congress needs to do in its aftermath.

Huffington: Will Reform Just Be for Show?

Oct. 5, 2009

Even with Wall Street’s lobbyists fighting it tooth and nail, financial reform seems inevitable.
So the question becomes: Are we going to get real reform or are we going to get the D.C. version of “reform” — i.e., reform in name only?

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Oxley: Extra Regulation Won’t Work

Oct. 5, 2009

Addressing the questions raised by the recent market calamity and forging the way forward will be among the most difficult issues, both technically and politically, ever faced by Congress.
The meltdown was such a significant issue that it must be addressed by the Congress and the Obama administration. The debate is likely to spill into next year, but, as things look now, there will be a financial regulatory reform bill of some sort that will be enacted into law.

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Weinstock: Public Demands Disclosure

Oct. 5, 2009

Want to know what is driving Congressional efforts to create a new federal consumer protection agency for financial services consumers?
Research by the Consumer Federation of America shows that consumers are tired of the tricks and traps laden in many financial products and services and want help.

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Kling: Experts Knew What Went On

Oct. 5, 2009

It is tempting to blame the financial crisis on lack of regulation. However, the problem was not the absence of oversight. Instead, the crisis resulted from policies that were self-defeating. In order to prevent another crisis, we need to change our approach.

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Rubin: Crisis Threatens Security, Too

Oct. 5, 2009

Our economic and national security decision-making processes have for too long been largely disconnected. Despite the fact that the Treasury Department has a seat at the principals’ table at the National Security Council, these two pillars of American governance have been viewed through very disparate lenses. But the financial crisis has changed this mentality, reinforcing the view long held by progressives, that the two are intrinsically linked.

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Mason: Ratings Agencies Shirk Duties

Oct. 5, 2009, 1:00 A.M.

No analysis of last year’s economic meltdown is complete without a discussion of the role financial ratings agencies played in the crisis.
Policymakers have long been puzzled by ratings agency conflicts of interest. Time and again ratings agencies are accused of shirking — that is, passing off low-quality ratings undetected until some sudden corporate or market failure reveals the shortcoming — and absconding with their earnings from having done so.

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Weissman: Industry Needs Reshaping

Oct. 5, 2009

Just a year ago, a reckless financial industry self-immolated and devastated the national economy. This is not exactly ancient history, and the effects continue to ripple through communities across the country.

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Stelzer: Crisis Leads to Clear Solutions

Oct. 5, 2009

It is not often that the road to good public policy is clearly marked. But when it comes to reform of the financial sector, the guideposts are there for all who would see. Even the detours that lead to dead ends are well-marked.

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Wartell: Too Much Faith in Free Market

Oct. 5, 2009

The deregulation culture is a central and not fully understood element in the story of how we got into the worst financial and economic crisis of the past 75 years. Understanding how culture affects policy provides important guidance for policymakers and regulators as they put in place new organizational structures charged with promoting and protecting efficient markets.

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Shapiro: Don’t Regulate Energy Market

Oct. 5, 2009

There’s a certain irony in the recent push to apply stricter regulation to commodity and other financial markets — just as we’re contemplating creating new markets that are even harder to regulate.

More From The Mission Ahead: Economy

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Miller & Kessler: The Next Shoe to Drop in the Financial Crisis

Oct. 6, 2009

In July, the Joint Economic Committee held a hearing on one of the least talked about dangers to our economy — a collapse of commercial real estate. The chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), called it “a ticking time bomb,” the next shoe to drop in the ongoing national real estate crisis. To avoid another round of default, recession and bailout, the federal government should look to Main Street rather than Wall Street.

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Saunders: A New Global Economy Must Rely on Financial Inclusion

Sept. 23, 2009

World leaders gathering this week for the G-20 summit, the 64th United Nations General Assembly and the Clinton Global Initiative conference are faced with major economic challenges. There is one fundamental principle they must not forget: We cannot build a viable global economy on an unstable base.

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Fine: Community Banks Are the Best Protection for Consumers

Sept. 18, 2009

As the debate over the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency rages, I would advance the simple fact that community banks are the best protection for consumers in our financial services system today.

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English: G-20 Summit Should Avoid Sideshows, Focus on Reforms

Sept. 17, 2009

As a lifelong resident of Western Pennsylvania who has had the opportunity to participate officially in a variety of international conferences in the course of my Congressional career, I look forward to being in Pittsburgh next week during the G-20 summit with a mixture of pride, hope and foreboding.

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MacGuineas: Reducing the Budget Deficit Requires More Than Just Health Care Reform

Sept. 15, 2009

Both the economic downturn and the list of policies Congress is likely to pass have caused budget projections to deteriorate to the point where no one can ignore the warning signals.

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Callahan & Willcox: A Consumer Financial Protection Agency — It’s About Time!

Aug. 17, 2009

Renzo Escobar of Fairfax, Va., was the owner of a home worth more than $800,000. A mortgage broker told him he could lower his mortgage payments by refinancing. The federal Truth in Lending Act gives homeowners undertaking such refinancings three days to review the paperwork generated at closing, before money is disbursed.

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Ruiz: The Next American Economy

Aug. 12, 2009

Last week, speaking from Elkhart, Ind., and Detroit, respectively, the president and vice president outlined a shared vision for economic recovery fueled by a renewed “spirit of innovation” — one that links job creation with smart strategies to foster U.S. competitiveness.

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Moylan: Double Trouble for Taxpayers

Aug. 12, 2009

The veneer is finally stripped off the president’s campaign promise of only raising taxes on the top income-earners. Officials are publicly admitting that some kind of middle class tax increase is on the table in order to pay for a government-run health care program and to cover long-term efforts to reduce the deficit.

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Donatelli: The Significance of the 'Clunker' Program

Aug. 7, 2009

Nothing more clearly illustrates our descent into the netherworld of quasi-socialism or “crony capitalism” (thanks to Fred Barnes) than the “cash for clunkers” program. Congress has added an additional $2 billion to the $1 billion already approved for cash incentives for lucky buyers to trade in older autos for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

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Stenholm & Frenzel: Wake Up, America! We Need a Fiscal Recovery Plan

July 22, 2009

With all the exhausting economic challenges America faces today, we all might be inclined to put the alarm clock on snooze and hope to dream it all away. But it’s time to wake up, America. It’s time for the president to map out a fiscal recovery plan to sustain our children, our grandchildren and our country’s future.

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Hall: McCaskill Hearing an Opportunity to Educate on American History

July 14, 2009

This week in our nation’s capital, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is chairing a hearing on the provisions of the Small Business Administration 8(a) Business Development Program. The 8(a) program, created by Congress in the 1960s, provides disadvantaged businesses, whether veteran-owned, Hispanic-owned or female-owned, with contracting opportunities with our federal government.

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Doan: The Small-Business Stimulus Solution

July 10, 2009

The $787 billion dollar stimulus passed by Congress was doomed to fail, so there should be no surprise at the steady increase in unemployment.