Outside Baseball
Barney Frank is Quoted in the Financial Times today about the need for an international umpire for financial regulatory situations. "Financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic may not be able to resolve policy disputes through co-operation and the creation of a global regulator should be considered, according to Barney Frank, the senior Democratic congressman."
Well thanks Frank. So much for people looking out for their own interests. This is typical Democratic philosophy and what we can look forward to if Democrats take power again. The Dems really don't think people can make their own decisions and want to put institutions in place to make those decisions for them. So what's the 'news?':
This co-operation is seen as necessary as exchanges consolidate beyond regional borders, moves highlighted by the proposed New York Stock Exchange merger with Euronext.
Well, in contracts the tiebreaker is determined beforehand, usually by selecting an arbitration situation. If none is determined it goes to court, and the court is the tiebreaker. Not to mention, each country involved has their own interests to care for. Europe's interests don't always mesh with that of the United States, and vise versa. Not to mention that something on the order of a merger between two stock exchanges would be scrutinized to the last detail by both the relevant European and American regulatory institutions before such a thing would be allowed. So where's the beef?
“Doesn’t that sound like fun,” Mr. Frank said of such co-operation. “Joint action is theoretically [good] but what does that mean? In American baseball, if the runner and the ball arrive at the base at the same time, the tie goes to the fielder. Who breaks a tie if there is a disagreement over policy between the SEC and FSA?”
For one thing, Frank is conflating the players with the umpires, and he's behaving as if international mergers and resolution agreements don't currently exist. Cooperation is the basis for all agreements, without which contracts would cease to exist. Cooperation, according to Frank, is overrated. But his greatest sin is in not knowing that there are no 'ties' in baseball. Beside the fact that I grew up "knowing" that the tie goes to the runner, the rules state simply that the runner must "beat the ball to the base." In close calls the umpire makes the decision whether or not that happened.
Barney Frank: wrong on international relations, wrong on baseball.
