Notwithstanding Senator Warren's preference for a monolithic regulator (such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), the Securities Exchange Act provides that members of more than one party must serve as Commissioners of the SEC. This reflects some level of tolerance on the part of Congress for a diversity of regulatory views. Senator Warren's attack on Ms. Peirce reflects the Senator's unhappiness about the possible confirmation of a policy-oriented intellectual who has…

If there were a Cassandra prize for recognizing the risks of central clearing, Professor Pirrong would win it. However, his observation that after the risk is recognized, the problem of dealing with it becomes political as well as economic is an understatement. Having invested so much reputational capital in boasting of the benefits of central clearing, the government is not about to say, "Whoops! Perhaps we overstated the benefits of clearing a little (or a lot)." A broader concern is…

Is this a coincidence or a consequence? Immediately after being persuaded by Senator Elizabeth Warren to withdraw a report criticizing the imposition of position limits on energy products (see, ""), Commissioner Giancarlo seems disparaging of other CFTC rules that may discourage speculation and so diminish the availability of parties willing to trade with hedgers.

The withdrawal of the EEMAC report is a disturbing development on two levels. It is a statement about current levels of tolerance for dissent. It is also a development regarding the substance of a proposed policy that simply refuses to conform to real world facts. 

First, notwithstanding Senator Warren's assertions, there does not seem to be anything either legally or substantively defective in the report. The Senator could not blot the report out of…