Who Regulates Banks Best? Bozo the Clown or Barney Frank.

2009 July 24
by Michael David White

Who Regulates Banks Best? Bozo the Clown or Barney Frank. Day 1.

Savings, Leverage, Equity. Folly’s Eternal Recurrence.

Bozo: “Listen Barney, let’s start at the beginning. Borrowers and lenders define themselves first by their savings account. Requiring the right ratio of savings to lending and borrowing — the ratio of leverage — is the key to managing banking, insurance, derivatives, hedge funds — the entire world of finance.

“The right leverage tops the commandments for the regulation of lending. It may represent as much as 90% of the job of regulating banks. Our next credit bubble will begin when the limits are widely circumvented. What we are experiencing today is insane and perfectly normal. It happens every 30 or 50 or 100 years.

“Financial bubbles are as common as earthquakes. You don’t really believe they happen, but they do. Enough about me Barney. What is the wise gay thinking on leverage and bank regulation?â€