> Someone should tell the FTC and SEC I concede your point regarding the FTC, and to modern consumer protection regulatory systems in general (though I have ot

> Someone should tell the FTC and SEC I concede your point regarding the FTC, and to modern consumer protection regulatory systems in general (though I have other problems with those). But the SEC is an exemplar of how our politics cripples agencies which can only function well by peeking behind the curtain, so to speak. The SEC has neither the resources nor mandate to match the power of the industry it regulates, which is why it mostly just goes around issuing the financial industry equivalent of parking tickets. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) would be another great example, but it barely even got off the ground before it was almost completely neutered. Beyond the FTC, most consumer protection regulation successes have been at the state level. The IRS is a good example, especially of the dynamic in evolution. It has to walk a fine line between applying consistent, clear rules and catching tax avoidance schemes by looking to the underlying substance of financial schemes rather than just the mechanics. And for the past couple of decades it's increasingly struggled to do that effectively, though mostly for political rather than legal reasons (taxation is one of the few areas where courts still accept intrusive, individualized examination by regulatory agencies as a matter of course).