HKS Authors

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Abstract

In the 1912 presidential election, Woodrow Wilson fought for a “New Freedom’’ and favored breaking up over-mighty businesses. One of his opponents, Theodore Roosevelt, wanted a “New Nationalism,’’ where big business would be controlled by robust regulation and a powerful public sector. Today, America is again faced with the Morton’s Fork of either regulating or dismantling financial firms that are “too big to fail.’’ For Rooseveltian regulators to succeed, they need enough information to restrain excessive risk-taking and that requires a system where financial firms reveal each other’s risks.

Citation

Glaeser, Edward L. "Too Risky to Regulate? Not with Proper Verification." Boston Globe, December 3, 2009.