A Little Transparency Would Go a Long Way
The administration is arguing for greater transparency in the financial markets, and I couldn’t agree more. These bankers on Wall Street need a new PR person. They need to come around and realize that even a little transparency would go a long way in improving their image.
No One Likes Secrets
Nothing else is hated more among the public than a well kept secret. It is believed that if you’re trying to keep something quiet, you have something to hide, even if it isn’t the case. Maybe Wall Street does have something to hide, maybe it doesn’t, but giving investors even just a taste of transparency in the backroom deals would go a long way in improving their image. People on Main Street hate Wall Street, but not because Wall Street is inherently dirty, nope, the public just doesn’t understand Wall Street.
Reducing Risk
While the President wants to reduce risk of financial catastrophe by more regulation, I just want more markets. The most risky and perhaps the most possibly destructive to the financial system as a whole is the shadowy derivatives market. But it isn’t risky because of the bets that are being made, they’re risky because no one knows a freaking thing about them. A new market of sorts to bring a center point for exchanging derivative products would go a long way in helping to bring more market actors, more liquidity, and more transparency into side-bets made by large financial institutions. This central exchange would also allow for pooling of assets by multiple banks, allowing small firms and individual investors to get involved in the market place.
Regulation is Not Reform
We have enough regulations, we have enough regulators. I just want the administration to listen to those of us who routinely buy and sell stocks and other securities. We don’t want regulation, we don’t need it, we just need Main Street to better understand its own ties to Wall Street.
