Banking's Past, Present, and Future
A couple of weeks ago, the Economist magazine ran an unusual “help wanted” ad. The Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, will retire in June and the British government is looking for a replacement. On the one hand, it might seem like a great job. The Governor receives a salary of £300,000, … Read more
Writing nearly 40 years ago, historian Ernest R. May warned of the dangers of misusing history for policy purposes. May was primarily concerned that policy makers drew the wrong lessons from the past. In their opinion piece in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia Business School and an advisor to Mitt Romney, … Read more
Republicans and Democrats are arguing over how many regulations we should add—or remove—from the financial services industry. Before we think about altering the regulations, we should think about enforcing the ones we currently have. Ever since the sub-prime meltdown erupted during 2008, politicians on both sides of the aisle have taken aim at the rules … Read more