…I mean jetting off to Buenos Aires to dine at eleven whilst hobnobbing with effete South American political elites.

Jeff Mannwich’s point above raises an interesting question about you. Which would you rather have:

(a) People buy your book but never actually read it

(b) People read your book but never actually buy it

If (a), you are a Republican, and if (b), you are a Democrat.

Sorry about the confusion. I had just looked at page 132 and could have sworn it referred to the FDIC and not the SEC. I should have looked.

And I had looked at those sections of the Fed’s website, which prompted my question. Many of the listed regulations deal with internal management issues and consumer protection. The only thing that stood out to me on the list was 12 CFR 204, Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions (but isn’t this related to leverage, which the SEC governs?), and maybe 12 CFR 206, Limitations on Interbank Liabilities.

As a recovering lawyer, I can dig into the regulations, but part of the difficulty here is the complexity of the regulatory landscape. So much agency overlap. Maybe that’s intentional: if you can’t figure out who is responsible, you can’t hold them accountable . . .

Regardless, the Fed’s list of regulations that it enforces does not tell me where you believe the Fed failed in its enforcement, which is an important conclusion of your book. There is no doubt that the Fed fell down in its monetary policy. That’s pretty easy to see. Without guidance, though, it is harder to understand the conclusion that it fell down in its regulatory role. What was the Fed required to do that it didn’t do? I’m not defending the Fed– the institution scares me for many reasons– I am just trying to understand what it could have done or should have done to avoid complicity in creating this crisis.

Thanks.

As to the Fed, consider these

http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/
http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/reglisting.htm

I wish I could be there, but I am on the wrong coast. Let us know when you will be in the SF Bay Area for a book reading.

I am making my way through your book (in parallel with a number of other books that I’m reading). It is an easy, good read.

One thing that I am having a hard time fully grasping, though, is the Federal Reserve’s role as regulator. You list the Fed’s failure in that role as one of the top 3 reasons for the current crisis, but you don’t explain the scope or limits of the Fed’s regulatory powers or exactly which of the regulations it failed to enforce. I’ve been on the Fed’s website and have found a number of regulations that the Fed is supposed to enforce, including truth in lending, but that can’t be it. On the other hand, you note that it was the FDIC who loosened leverage requirements, so THAT does not appear to be within the Fed’s purview.

Clearly, you have something very firmly in mind. Is there any way you can provide a primer, or a pointer to something you’ve already posted, that explains precisely where the Fed fell down in its regulatory role?

Thanks.

those peep are something else~

was making me recall a familiar lament from earlier days: “O Envy! Will you Always be with Us?”

“Can you Turn, to take leave, before the Leaves turn?”

Easy!