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The financial crisis of 2008-2009 gave America the chance to rethink and reform the financial abuses that caused the crisis and to reinstate regulation of the financial sector that will benefit the majority Americans instead of the few, and provide for our nation's economic progress while not sacrificing innovation with undue regulation. The only problem is, the law known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, in my opinion did not accomplish these objectives. The act was heralded by Obama as "the toughest financial reform since the ones we created in the aftermath of the Great Depression." And from the Republicans, the rhetoric about the reform bill was over the top as it was represented as almost a Communist seizure of the means of production. Neither view is even close. This article will attempt to explain my reasoning. Prior to becoming the managing editor of Boom! Magazine I worked in the financial services industry (specifically mortgage banking) for over 31 years. I worked, and watched with trepidation, throughout the 80s as Reagan's anti-regulation attitude and laws passed by Congress allowed deregulation of the S&L industry that enabled them to move into new businesses and products of which they did not have the knowledge to manage the risk. The result was the S & L crisis. I worked for several national and international firms involved in the formation of mortgage-backed securities throughout the 90s and until the impending crash of 2007-08. I saw the steady growth of the securities market and also witnessed the dissolution of the normal standards and practices upheld by prudent bankers to manage risk and provide loans to individuals who were qualified to buy. During the 2000-2007 bubble we were overwhelmed with pushing out ever greater volume of securities without regard to the fundamentals of the transaction. That's what happens to discipline when you are in a bubble. You would think that the Great Depression and the lessons from the mid-80s would have helped the financiers and politicians appreciate the value of common sense regulation. Greed however always trumps reason. Capitalism is the best system in the world as long it is properly regulated to prevent excesses and provide for the greater good of individuals and the nation as a whole. Exactly what Wall Street did not want but what our elected officials should have given us. As the financial industry grew so powerful and came to be a larger part of our economy's GDP, its political power also grew exponentially. Huge sums of money were available to donate to political campaigns and both parties in Congress accepted the funds. Wall Street veterans went into and out of government service so much that it just became a revolving door. After the repeal of Glass-Steagall in the Clinton administration the dominos began to fall. Banks could now grow without constraint and invest in obscure derivatives for their own account.

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