Instead of going into a lengthy analysis about the pros and cons of Chris Dodd's financial reform bill, I'll let the Senator speak for himself:
This legislation will not stop the next crisis from coming. No legislation can...
What Dodd is really saying is that there's no use in doing any of the things which all of the top independent economists and financial experts say need to be done to stabilize the economy. See this, this and this.
Poor old Wall Street has to become a victim to the business cycle and get bailed out once again:
"Not to be funny about it, but my daughter asked me when she came home from school 'what's the financial crisis,' and I said, 'Well it's something that happens every five to seven years,''' [JP Morgan CEO Jamie] Dimon said.
And the poor little politicians have to raise enough money to get re-elected.
That's just the way it is.
It is just not politically feasible to pass legislation which will actually change anything.
Obviously, no legislation can guarantee 100% that a financial crisis will not occur. But good legislation with teeth that significantly reforms the system and removes the major sources of risk along the lines set forth in the links above would reduce - by more than 90% - the odds of another collapse within the next couple of decades.
Does anyone doubt that a bill jointly drafted by, say, William Black, Janet Tavakoli, Elizabeth Warren and Simon Johnson would remove 90% of risk from the system? (These are just examples - there are other people who could draft it as well). You just need independent experts to explain how to do it.
Dodd's bill, on the other hand, will reduce the odds by only about 15-30%.
