[A-List] Operation Restoring Investor Confidence: Merrill-Spitzer Settlement

[Sabri Oncu <soncu@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Anne writes:

> I agree with much of what your wrote, Sabri.
> And, yes, govt is supposed to preserve the
> "peace" and establish "tranquility," but Fedgov
> hasn't done that, isn't doing that, and won't do
> that because it is preserving its special interests
> - that was my point.

Dear Anne,

No doubt Fedgov hasn't done that, isn't doing that, and won't do
that. So we are in agreement here. But, you have not answered my
question below, not that you have to:

>> It's theirs, they make this clear to us daily
>> with their unending anti-Constitutional violations
>> and special privileges.
>
>Who are they?

Here is one more question:

Why do you think the author below, applauded by Milton Friedman
and Jeffrey E. Garten (a contributor to Business Week and Dean of
Yale School of Management), is calling for less regulation of the
global financial markets?

By the way, was not our friend Milton Friedman also an ardent
supporter of Pinochet?

Also, why is it so important for Bloomberg to note that this
author, that is, DeRosa, is an Adjunct Professor of Finance and
fellow of the Center for International Finance at the Yale School
of Management and before that that he taught at the Graduate
School of Business of the University of Chicago? For a
libertarian such as DeRosa, this is not exactly being back into
the pool with the rest of the plebs, is it?

These take me back to the above question:

Who are they?

Best,
Sabri

++++++++++++++++

IN DEFENSE OF FREE CAPITAL MARKETS

The Case Against a New International Financial Architecture
By David DeRosa

Date Published: January 2001
ISBN 1-57600-036-X
Suggested Retail Price: $27.95

A compelling argument for less regulation of the global markets.

Because of the remarkable number of currency and emerging market
meltdowns during the 1990s--from the Mexican peso crisis to the
collapse of the Asian markets to the Russian devaluation of the
ruble--the free market system faces the prospect of tighter
global regulation. David DeRosa makes a compelling case that
less, not more regulation is vitally needed; that public policies
often have been dead wrong in concept and application; that
so-called controls generate indirect and unintended harmful
consequences; and that aggressive intervention is no panacea.

When confronted with a financial crisis, many leaders prefer to
indict the international financial system rather than admit to
policy blunders that may be of their own making. This book
analyses the economic conditions that produced a number of recent
financial crises. It also investigates the responses made to each
crisis, to uncover whether government policies directed at these
episodes of turmoil made matters better or worse.

This is a rousing case for putting far greater trust in the
markets. It exposes the risks, market distortions, and huge
hidden costs that can result from government bailouts and
proposed reforms. David DeRosa makes an important contribution to
a debate whose outcome will determine the stability and
prosperity achievable in an interconnected age.


++++++++++++++++

"In Defense of Free Capital Markets is an impressive survey and
analysis of the crises of the 1990s. Mr. DeRosa makes a strong
case that official intervention has made matters worse, not
better, and that in such instances it is far better to leave it
to the invisible hand of the market than to the clumsy, visible
hand of regulators."

--Milton Friedman
Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution
Nobel Economics Prize, 1976

"David DeRosa wrote a modern day version of von Hayek's Road to
Serfdom. He eloquently shows how governments can use
pseudoscience to disrupt markets and create additional financial
risk and volatility."

--Nassim N. Taleb
President, Empirica Capital, LLC
Greenwich, CT

"In Defense of Free Capital Markets is a highly valuable
contribution to the debate over the future of global capitalism.
DeRosa writes with great passion and also with the technical
understanding that few public commentators have. This is
important reading for anyone interested in financial markets and
public policy."

-- Jeffrey E. Garten
Dean, Yale School of Management


DAVID F. DEROSA, Ph.D. is the president of DeRosa Research and
Trading. He is an Adjunct Professor of Finance and fellow of the
Center for International Finance at the Yale School of
Management. Before teaching at Yale, he taught at the Graduate
School of Business of the University of Chicago. DeRosa has had
more than two decades of experience in international capital
markets and in particular in foreign exchange trading. He writes
a thrice-weekly column for Bloomberg News on international
finance and politics.