I digress. My only comment for the moment is that the factions in this financial crisis have split along the historical divide of the high finance Hamiltonians versus the Central Bank Hating Jeffersonians. The Jeffersonians are rightfully angry at the Hamiltonians for delivering a gargantuan credit crisis. Hamiltonian play in the field of derivatives exacerbated the inevitable cyclical credit bust that is a given with capitalism. The fact of this cyclical credit collapse is what justifies regulation with the aim of transparency and mitigation of leverage. The margin requirements for the purchase of equities imposed by the securities laws of the 30's have done us well. The current crisis is not an equity market crisis. The traditional equity markets are certainly feeling the effects, but these effects are the result of collapses in the derivative markets, particularly securitized mortgages and mortgage backed collateral debt obligations (CDOs). As Obama aptly said in the debate last night, we have 20th century securities laws for a 21st century market. But I digress.
