Blown Speakers

It's so easy to blow up your problems
It's so easy to play up your breakdown
It's so easy to fly through a window
It's so easy to fool with the sound
--The Cars

Public Law 111-203, or the Dodd Frank Act, has been signed into law. No need to replow old ground on the potential value in this one.

Did want to add an interesting tidbit today courtesy of Fleck. The original Glass Steagall Act of 1933 was 37 pages. The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (another piece of highly touted but consequently proved worthless legislation) was 66 pages.

The 2010 Dodd Frank Act weighs in at 2319 pages.

Perhaps policymakers believe that more pages = more effective regulatory law...

Moreover, if we utilize pages of legislation as a proxy for extent to which government has intervened in markets, these data add to the pile of evidence suggesting ongoing movement away from capitalism and toward the socialism side of the scale.

Postscript: after posting this missive, happened to stumble this piece posted today in the Mises site. As the author suggests, it's easy to note similarities between the regimented state of WWII Germany and the US today from a regulatory standpoint.