Closing the barn door after the horse has escaped

There are those that feel if only there was more government regulation we'd not be in the financial mess we're currently in. The problem with regulation is that like most legislation, it is a fairly blunt instrument with which to try to fix a specific problem, and it is not uncommon to find instances where the unintended consequences outnumber the intended consequences--often significantly. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbox) is a perfect example. Put in place with the intention of halting further accounting scandals like the ones that brought down Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and a host of other publicly traded companies, it has also acted to limit the choices a small business has regarding its growth and has moved most of what was left of our IPO market

Dominos falling

Here's The Cato Institute sharing a little bit of common sense:

Daniel Mitchell, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the government should have no role in helping the (auto) industry, except to provide positive economic conditions -- "a lower corporate tax rate, less red tape and things like that," he said.

Mitchell added that if the government takes control of the auto industry, it will be a recipe for disaster.

"The free markets allocate resources and reward people for doing good things and punish them for doing dumb things," he said. "Government misallocates resources and rewards people for doing dumb things and punishing them for doing good things.

Federal Reserve Liquidity Programs to Date

Every industry has its share of acronyms, but unless one is a part of a particular industry, specific acronyms generally have no meaning. Since it is our money being used in the latest iteration of the current corporate/social bailout, I believe every taxpayer should take an interest in the list below.