Treating Wall Street Like the Mafia

Perhaps Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) thinks of himself as a modern day John Sherman. In 1890, Ohio Sen. Sherman set out on a mission to establish “just competition” laws and level the economic playing field. His quest culminated in the dismantling of monopolies–such as American Tobacco and Standard Oil–and the passage of new laws prohibiting malicious competitive practices. In a similar way, Dodd now seeks the power to tear apart any company he considers a risk to the national economy. But unlike Sherman, Dodd isn’t out to create the best possible conditions for competition to thrive. He’s out for blood.

Dodd’s plan for overhauling Wall Street regulations, released mid-November, includes a proposed new organization: the Agency for Financial Stability (AFS). This new regulator would be tasked with identifying and addressing “systemic risks posed by large, complex companies as well as products and activities that can spread risk across firms.” This represents one piece of the most extensive proposal to reform financial services regulation–topping even the ridiculousness of the Obama plan and Barney Frank plan. Which is saying a lot.

An Agency for Financial Stability would enjoy unprecedented power over the private sector. To read what kind of power, and how Dodd’s AFS would have the authority to treat Wells Fargo or UBS like Al Capone and the Bonanno crime family, see my recent article at Reason Online.