The author isn't only talking about the regulators being corrupt or incompetent. He's also talking about market participants like Madoff and Lehman Brothers. R

The author isn't only talking about the regulators being corrupt or incompetent. He's also talking about market participants like Madoff and Lehman Brothers. Removing regulation will not suddenly turn the bankers into honest people, as the author seems to think. "Better than multiplying rules, financial accounting should be governed by the traditional principle that one has an affirmative duty to present the true condition fairly and accurately—not withstanding what any rule might otherwise allow." He's suggesting that we take away the regulations and just ask the bankers to be honest. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I don't think that's going to work.