Start By Assuming The Market Is Always

Financial Markets Are Supposed To Swing Like A Pendulum: They May Fluctuate Wildly In Response To Exogenous Shocks, But Eventually They Are Supposed To Come To Rest At An Equilibrium Point And That Point Is Supposed To Be The Same Irrespective Of The Interim Fluctuations. Instead, As I Told Congress, Financial Markets Behaved More Like A Wrecking Ball, Swinging From Country To Country And Knocking Over The Weaker Ones. It Is Difficult To Escape The Conclusion That The International Financial System Itself Constituted The Main Ingredient In The Meltdown Process.

We Must Recognize That As The Dominant Power In The World We Have A Special Responsibility. In Addition To Protecting Our National Interests, We Must Take The Leadership In Protecting The Common Interests Of Humanity.

This Is The Joint Responsibility Of Everyone Who Was Involved In The Introduction Of The Euro Without Understanding The Consequences. When The Euro Was Introduced, The Regulators Allowed Banks To Buy Unlimited Amounts Of Government Bonds Without Setting Aside Any Equity Capital. And The European Central Bank Discounted All Government Bonds On Equal Terms. So Commercial Banks Found It Advantageous To Accumulate The Bonds Of The Weaker Countries To Earn A Few Extra Basis Points.

However, You Have To Recognize That Regulations Will Never Be Completely Successful And They Will Always Be Full Of Holes. You Must Constantly Be Ready To Fill New Holes. Actually Regulation Should Be Kept To A Minimum, But There Has To Be Some Cooperation Between Market Participants And Authorities - As Was The Case In The Early Postwar Years. The Bank Of England Was A Very Successful Regulator By Cooperating With Market Participants. This Cooperative Spirit Was Broken By The Market Fundamentalists.

To My Mind, There Is A Solution Which Has To Do With Democracy, Because Democratic Governments Are Subject To The Will Of The People. So, If The People Will It, You Can Actually Create International Institutions Through The Democratic States.