The Nation is now in the midst of one of the greatest financial crises in its history. Much of the blame for this condition is being placed on the bursting of the residential real estate bubble, which was fueled in large part by the reckless expansion of subprime mortgage lending. Those...

This article traces the history of the growth and regulation of banking services in the United States. That history will show how the existing regulatory structure was developed in response to demands of the Civil War and a populist crusade against the “money trust.” That effort reached its...

In the 1930s, corporate governance reformers attacked excessive executive compensation through lawsuits, claiming that corporate directors were breaching their fiduciary duties by making excessive bonus payments to executives. That effort was unsuccessful because the courts found themselves...

The phenomenal growth of derivative financial instruments has sparked a near revolution in finance. These instruments take many forms and come in literally hundreds of varieties. Some, such as commodity futures and options, are heavily regulated when they are traded on organized exchanges. Other...

One of the most striking developments in financial markets during the latter half of this century has been the growing dominance of the institutional investor. The expanding role of large, institutional investors has been accompanied by demands for lessened regulation of these entities, because...