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Willem Buiter is on a roll
Dani Rodrik's weblog — See his proposals on financial regulation.  He says it is better to err on the side of over-regulation, and that it is better to do it quickly, even if we do not get it quite right, because the political window of opportunity may soon disappear if we wait too long.  What he says on cross-border finance is ...

Willem Buiter Strikes Again, Calls for Over-Regulation of Banks
naked capitalism — ... international mechanisms, while the US is arguing for more coordinated fiscal stimulus. The US does not want to (and won't as long as the dollar holds as reserve currency) cede control over its institutions. But a good deal more "harmonisation" and coordination is in order. Buiter provides a long list of reform ideas. I've extracted the ones I found most interesting, and I encourage readers to look at the full roster. Be sure to read his comments on self regulation. From VoxEU: Financial regulation is a now-or-never proposition as the sector’s ...

Guest post: A few thoughts about the banking crisis response in the United States
naked capitalism — Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns Edward Harrison here. I wanted to begin my series of posts here on naked capitalism with my thoughts regarding the policy response to the banking crisis in the United States. I believe Yves would agree that the response to date has lacked the necessary urgency to move us forward in a sustainable way and that, consequently, downside risks remain for economic growth and asset markets. In any banking crisis, the central question always is: which financial institutions now operating are insolvent, how can we ...

Ms. Watkins, why does Charlie have lit dynamite?
naked capitalism — You are a teacher at a local primary school. Each school day you and some of your colleagues watch over the children at the school playground to make sure all of the children follow the rules and keep their hands to themselves. Your role is to keep the children safe. Mind you, this is a Montessori School where the philosophy is to let children explore within set boundaries.  But, if a child hurts another or a child’s behavior poses an immediate risk to others, you always step in. In fact, one child, Charlie has been a bit of a problem recently. Charlie is one of the biggest kids at the school, a boisterous sixth grader ...