Academic

President Obama and Securities Regulation

By Gordon Smith, Christine, Hurt, Vic Fleischer, Fred Tung, Lisa Fairfax, David Zaring

The first day of Securities Regulation had us meeting at 10:30 a.m. CST.  We began class with the CNN stream of the inauguration behind us and stopped during the oaths of office and President Obama's speech.  The passing of the torch between elected leaders of the most powerful country in the world seemed to have enough importance to devote some class time to its observation, and so we did.

So, were there any Securities Regulation-type nuggets in the inaugural address?  (Full text here.)  Well, sure.  Here is the part of the speech that serves as a segue into a new semester of Securities Regulation:

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government. Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

How should we tweak the market's "watchful eye" so that it cannot spin out of control? That is an important question, and the response to the question will be a lasting legacy of the Obama administration, for good or ill.

Full post as published by Conglomerate on January 20, 2009 (boomark / email).