Unregulation

This article by Floyd Norris is the clearest explanation I've seen on just what has become 'unregulated' in our economy.

How's this for a zinger:

When the Financial Accounting Standards Board met after the Enron scandal to tighten the rules over off-balance-sheet entities, it permitted banks to continue keeping many assets off their balance sheets, under rules that now — belatedly — are being changed. Out of sight should not have meant out of mind, as many of the off-balance-sheet items have produced major losses.

Similarly, the rules permitted banks to turn groups of mortgages into securities and report profits even though they retained some of the risk that the mortgages would go bad. By underestimating that risk, the banks reported higher profits than they should have, and the executives qualified for larger bonuses. Many of the recent losses are just reversing profits that, in reality, were never earned.