> Who said anything about benefits? I think the heavy breathing about
> it is way overdone, and the theoretical arguments against it aren't
> very persuasive. If there's a left position on institutional
> arrangements in finance, I think it'd be to create public and
> cooperative institutions capitalized through a tax on the big guys.
>
Oh boy, I'm sensing the deep end of the pool...
If revoking the restrictions makes finance capital stronger and the changes represent a 20 year continuation in banking deregulation which suggests the likelihood of renewed regulation is dim, then why shouldn't my breathing get quicker, if not heavier? I suppose I understand the slap at populism, but then again, ending the act's restrictions seems regrettable. Who's gaining from the changes?
I dunno, years ago on either psn or penl I dimly remember you making the point against, maybe interstate banking restrictions, and noting that the banking industry couldn't continue to sustain thousands of local banks. I don't remember your logic exactly but you seemed to see consolidation as the future. It seemed then, as now, that you're discounting whatever small meausure of power or control fragmenting and keeping the industry localized represented. Maybe there wasn't much efficacy these regimes of regulation, then again, who gains and who loses?
Dennis Breslin