Turmoil in the U.S. Credit Markets: The Genesis of the Current Economic Crisis

Interview

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SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Our financial markets and the economic crisis that we face today represent a very serious and a real threat, and we need to make sure that we are very clear about what the sequence of events were that occurred and what choices were made to place us in this catastrophic state of affairs. I agree that we've got to figure out how we got here so that we can correctly and properly address it.

I was pleased to hear that you intend to pay some very specific attention not only to oversight of the implementation of the recovery plan that Congress passed, but also to the need for regulatory reform, and your mention of the blueprint that Secretary Paulson put out. As you know, I'm one who has been very involved in regulatory reform and the modernization over the past few years, and I have some pretty strong opinions about how we need to approach establishing our regulatory system in this country. And I've noted in the testimony of some of the witnesses an explanation and a recognition of the fact that our regulatory system, developed decades and decades ago, has not kept up with the state of the economy and the types of financial activities and financial products that we are now dealing with on a global basis in our economy, and because of that I think there is a true need to address what regulatory structure this nation should have for a whole host of different pieces and aspects of our financial system. I'm going to be interested in the witnesses' testimony today about that.

I personally think that we will probably -- "we" collectively, the Congress, as we struggle with this, will probably end up with some very different opinions and points of view about how we should approach that. There will be some who want a much more extensive role for the regulators than others, but the bottom line is we need to figure out how we will move forward, and we need to establish a regulatory system that will allow capital to flow in our country, and in the global economy really, in a free and an efficient and a safe way, and I believe that there is a way for us to achieve that. So I appreciate the fact that you have indicated that you're going to be paying some very close attention to that, even before the next Congress starts, and I look forward to working with you in that evaluation.

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