THE VOLCKER RULE
IS IN THE NEWS
AGAIN
PAUL VOLCKER
AS CHAIR OF
THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD
Published in the February 20, 1984, issue of
BUSINESS WEEK (p. 28)
Volcker's time as Fed Chair seems to grow brighter as that of his two immediate successors, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernacke, becomes more problematic, and Volcker is still around to enjoy it. Having supported Senator Obama at a time when the Illinois Democrat did not have much of a financial track record, he might have hoped for a substantive response to his insights, and perhaps even a substantive role in the new presidential administration. One way or another -- Obama's weaknesses or others' cleverness (see here and here) -- Volcker failed to prevail. His compensation was The Volcker Rule (handy for symbolic purposes for President Obama too).
Now that the Rule has been embodied in a 298-page piece of legislation, and the banks are starting to protest against the regulations it seeks to impose, Paul Volcker has spoken out. Some of the coverage of what the former Fed Chair is advocating, and the pushback, can be found here and here and here. There is also a lot of the history to be found in Ron Suskind's new book, CONFIDENCE MEN (Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President).
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