No Regulation without Risk
Letter to the Editor
Alex J. Pollock | Barrons
November 09, 2009

    Download

"How are you going to regulate systemic risk when you are the systemic risk?" This excellent question of Senator Jim Bunning to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hasn’t been answered by the Fed or anybody else. Nonetheless, the Fed, which had a big part in inflating the bubble, is now nominated by some elected representatives of the people to be a philosopher-king of systemic risk. Let us hope this notion will fail to get enacted.

Thomas G. Donlan, in the Oct. 26 Editorial Commentary, suggests that such ideas are a matter of "false faith." He's right. After having observed financial regulation fail time after time, its adherents still display this touching (or pathetic) faith that somehow it will work next time, if we just make it even more pervasive and more intrusive.

Alex J. Pollock is a resident fellow at AEI.

    Download
Also Visit
AEIdeas Blog The American Magazine
About the Author

 

Alex J.
Pollock
  • Alex Pollock joined AEI in 2004 after thirty-five years in banking. He was president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago from 1991 to 2004. He is the author of numerous articles on financial systems and the organizer of the “Deflating Bubble” series of AEI conferences. In 2007, he developed a one-page mortgage form to help borrowers understand their mortgage obligations. At AEI, he focuses on financial policy issues, including housing finance, government-sponsored enterprises, retirement finance, corporate governance, accounting standards, and the banking system. He is the lead director of CME Group, a director of Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation and the International Union for Housing Finance, and chairman of the board of the Great Books Foundation.

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALEX POLLOCK'S ONE-PAGE MORTGAGE FORM



    CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALEX POLLOCK'S WORK ON THE GOVERNMENT MORTGAGE COMPLEX
  • Phone: 2028627190
    Email: apollock@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Emily Rapp
    Phone: (202) 419-5212
    Email: emily.rapp@aei.org
Show More | See Full Profile

What's new on AEI

image The Pentagon’s illusion of choice: Hagel’s 2 options are really 1
image Wild about Larry
image Primary care as affordable luxury
image Solving the chicken-or-egg job problem
close

Join the AEI Media List

AEI's press office frequently sends press advisories highlighting the availability of scholars to discuss particular news topics, as well as recent AEI products (such as studies, articles, and testimonies). Please enter your contact information below to be added to our media list.
JOIN MEDIA LIST
AEI on Facebook
Events Calendar
  • 05
    MON
  • 06
    TUE
  • 07
    WED
  • 08
    THU
  • 09
    FRI
Tuesday, August 06, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Uniting universal coverage and personal choice: A new direction for health reform

Join some of the authors, along with notable health scholars from the left and right, for the release of “Best of Both Worlds: Uniting Universal Coverage and Personal Choice in Health Care,” and a new debate over the priorities and policies that will most effectively reform health care.

VIEW EVENT DETAILS
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled today.
No events scheduled this day.