Friday, August 19, 2011

The Cost of Dodd-Frank

Senator Chris Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank know little about economics and less about financial services. Nevertheless, their names adorn one of the worst pieces of legislation in American history -- the Dodd-Frank bill. This bill, one of the first of Obama Administration's body blows to the American eoonomy, is now bearing fruit in massive layoffs at the major banks in the US.



What Dodd-Frank does is shift the center of the financial service world from the US to Asia. What Dodd-Frank doesn't do is provide any reform whatever to the delivery of financial services in the US. Dodd-Frank enshrines "too big to fail" as the cornerstone of US bank regulatory policy. Dodd-Frank is an absurd, suicidal act imposed upon the financial services by ignoramuses who don't understand the purpose or operation of a financial service industry. It's a lawyer's dream and country's nightmare.



Check out the bank stocks. This year they are down from 35 percent to 60 percent, pretty much across the board. Pick up a newspaper. Banks are laying off employees in the US in huge numbers.



I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this was the purpose of the "envy crowd." Crush American financial services so that you don't see those rich Wall Streeters around anymore. The rest of the country is just collateral damage in this assault on what used to be the dominant financial service country in the world.