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9th-Jan-2009 06:58 am - Why Not to Trust the Government
Inspiration
Because it's run by Meaghan Cheung. And for those among my listeners who think I'm unjustly criticising a well-meaning person who held a responsible government job just because she was incompentant, I agree I am criticising her for exactly that reason. And because I've met too many other government functionaries whose inability to see past the lines of their forms hurt people.

Do I think the SEC bobbled its legislative oversight of Madoff? Yes. Is that fixable by new laws? Think a moment. They can't enforce the laws they've got, and you're going to add to the pile? If I were a securities crook, a proposal like that would make me more confident of getting away with it longer: you've added a bigger mess to my adversary's plate.

Libertarians are chuckling in the background. But they should be more ashamed of the private rating agencies that passed collections of bad debt off as investment vehicles: that was a private solution. It failed.
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