by lama on 8/30/2008 09:46:00 AM

Here's an article featuring regulators reacting to 3 to 5 year-old news.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aBDDcYvIKUdE&refer=economy

I have some observations about regulators:
1. They are retstrained by Congressional inaction or mission statements.
2. They are not actively in the marketplace, so they miss the first signs of trouble. More than a year ago, a retail store owner could have told you the economy was sinking. For our small consulting firm, 9 months ago it became easier to find accounting talent. Are regulators in the Ivory Tower?
3. There are more inputs into any economic analysis than there ever were before. In the early 90's recession, Asia meant Japan, Europe was 3 countries, the Middle East was just a gas station and The Americas was the US. Now, there are so many more countries with real economies, what's the benchmark?

What can regulators do? What should they do?