On the recordJanuary 12, 2017
The debate over financial regulation is not just about more versus less. It is also about the idea that financial liberty and personal liberty are connected, and they have been for most of history. This goes back to the Middle Ages, when widespread use of a bill of exchange--basically, a check--made it much more difficult for government to wrongly take people's wealth. That development was one of the first building blocks of limited government. Now, today, we see a similar principle at work in global capital. Like the bill of exchange placing gold or silver out of the reach of government, the connected global economy allows capital to flow away from harsh regulation. Countries that get it right are the ones that win. There are a number of statistics that suggest that we are getting the short end of the stick in this arena. We are losing our financial competitiveness. For example, nearly 10 percent of foreign companies left the New York Stock Exchange this year, almost double the historic average. Finally, from 2010 to 2016, the United States slipped from 6th to 11th in the Index of Economic Freedom. While this problem has a number of causes, the Securities and Exchange Commission Regulatory Accountability Act will help improve our economic competitiveness by requiring that the SEC put its regulations through a strong cost-benefit analysis and review regulations that are just plain outdated. I urge a ``yes'' vote.
