Todd Zywicki reviews David Skeel's book The New Financial Deal: Understanding the Dodd-Frank Act and Its (Unintended) Consequences
Those looking for a roadmap that lays out the basic ideas that animate Dodd-Frank and its key provisions should turn to David Skeel’s book, The New Financial Deal: Understanding the Dodd-Frank Act and Its (Unintended) Consequences. Skeel summarizes Dodd-Frank in 200 readable pages that leads the reader through the basic provisions of the historic legislation and its consequences, both intended and unintended.
During the final debates over the passage of Dodd-Frank, Texas Republican CongressmanJeb Hensarling observed that “There are at least three unintended consequences on every page of this legislation.” Quite a few for a bill that ran to 2,319 pages. Skeel picks up on this theme and after starting by explaining the intended goals of Dodd-Frank and the ways in which the legislation attempts to implement them, concludes that in fact Dodd-Frank will have negative unintended consequences that will vastly exceed the beneficial intended effects of the legislation.
Go read the review, but be sure to buy the book. It's a great read.
