Oh good. More bureaucrats......

We need more parasites
 

O’Reilly Tonight: Financial “Reform” « John Stossel

On The Factor tonight, Bill wants to discuss the pending financial “reform” bill. I put “reform” in quotes, because the 1,336 page bill is likely to do little more than create a new maze of unproductive regulation. Here are five new agencies the bill would create:

— Financial Stability Oversight Council
— Office of Finance Research
— Office of National Insurance
— Office of Credit Rating Agencies
— Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection

A “Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection” sounds nice. But the more (and the more loudly) government devotes efforts to protecting ordinary investors from Wall Street, the less incentive ordinary investors have to protect themselves. Pretend to remove the risk (or severely dilute the risk) of personally suffering financial losses, and ordinary, non-professional investors lose their incentives to personally exercise prudence, caution, and good judgment.

Bob Litan, writing for the Huffington Post, also points out that the bill restricts funding for start-ups: