Make Markets Be Markets

On March 3, 2010, some of the nation's leading financiers, economists, and market experts gathered to discuss how to Make Markets Be Markets.  Hosted by the Roosevelt Institute and led by Senior Fellow Rob Johnson, Director of the Institute's Project on Global Finance, this distinguished group entered into a critical discussion of how to return core market principles of transparency, accountability, and the free flow of information to the financial market sector.  

Contributors to the report include:

Simon Johnson on the Doom Cycle

Raj Date on Eliminating Fannie & Freddie

 Richard Carnell on Regulators' Incentives

Lawrence White on the Credit Rating Agencies

Elizabeth Warren on Consumer Protection

Michael Konczal on a 21st Century Glass-Steagall

Joshua Rosner on Securitization

Frank Partnoy on Off-Balance Sheet Accounting

Michael Greenberger on Over-the-Counter Derivatives

Rob Johnson on Resolution

Responding to the report in a roundtable discussion moderated by Senior Fellow Bowman Cutter were: George Soros, Joseph Stiglitz, Jim Chanos, Peter Solomon, Stanley Sporkin, and Lynn Turner.

To view presentations from the conference, click on any of the chapters listed above.  You can also view:

• Introductory Remarks by Roosevelt's Chief Economist, Joseph Stiglitz
• Roundtable Discussion with Soros, Stiglitz, Cutter, Chanos, Solomon, Sporkin, and Turner
• Q&A with all speakers
• Download the Full Report (PDF)
• The Make Markets Be Markets site (complete w/ press materials) 

From the Introduction:

Eighteen months after the most devastating financial crisis since the Great Depression, our financial system remains critically flawed.  The United States has not yet enacted the financial reforms necessary to repair the broken financial system.

We have a financial system that continues to be sustained by taxpayers through the fiscal side door of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet.  All legislative proposals offered by the Administration, House, and Senate fall far short of what is needed for proper reform.  Independent experts across the political spectrum have clearly identified the dangers of large complex financial institutions that are intertwined through the proliferation of derivative instruments.  Those experts have also prescribed remedies that are concise, clear, and well-developed.  Many of the fault lines in the current system, and their remedies, were well known long before this latest crisis unfolded.

The crisis of 2008 was predictable.  Unless we go far beyond current legislative proposals, the next crisis is inevitable.  (Read the full Introduction.)