The answer to that, according to James Kwak’s inquiries, is with “a hotline, a requirement that regulations have to be extensively tested, and periodic review.” That’s about the length and breadth of the Republican response to the scandalous behavior in the consumer credit market during this financial crisis. Fixing that market isn’t sufficient to fix our financial system, but it is necessary — and it is one of the few tangible measures that will show change to regular citizens, who don’t have much contact with derivatives and CDOs but who do get auto loans and mortgages and pay overdraft fees.
More broadly, this is why Democrats will continue to have something of a political advantage going forward: Republicans still haven’t been able to offer alternative solutions to the various national problems; they’re only developing the skills need to shoot down ideas. As Kwak notes, Republicans are under no obligation to come up with a detailed program while in opposition, but coming up with something will probably accelerate their trip out of that state.
— Tim Fernholz
