Debate

The purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to (1) explore a policy issue, (2) take a stand on that policy issue (3) defend your position based on an internet resource, your personal experience, or professional experience.

1. Perhaps no government entity involved in the regulation and oversight of the financial sector in the United States has come under more scrutiny, or has faced greater criticism, than the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC, which is charged with enforcing regulations affecting publicly traded companies, as well as their securities and bond issuances, has been heavily criticized by an expanding corps of critics for its poor leadership by previous chairpersons such as Harvey Pitt and Christopher Cox, and for its failure to identify Ponzi schemes such as that promulgated by Bernard Madoff. Indeed, some within the Obama administration have even argued that the SEC be abolished, preferring the creation of an entirely new regulatory organization charged with greater oversight capabilities and an ironclad administrative mandate.
2. In light of the significant turmoil in the United States and global financial markets in 2008 and 2009 and the spectacular examples of the corporate demises of companies such as Enron, Arthur Andersen, and Lehman Brothers, do you believe that the SEC has not adequately performed its mandated role, or these events could not have been prevented regardless of what agency was charged with regulatory oversight? Is it prudent (or advisable) to abolish the SEC? Would a new organization do a better job? Do you believe that the SECs perceived weaknesses are result of institutional failures, or leadership failures? Or, do you think that the SEC has merely been a convenient lightning rod to distract attention from the fundamental failures of elected officials to properly construct a sound regulatory framework?
3. In framing your position, you may wish to consider whether the SEC has provided ordinary investors with greater or lesser confidence vis--vis investing in publicly traded securities.