Chapman Symposium After Action Review

I just got back from the Chapman Law Review Symposium: From Wall Street to Main Street: The Future of Financial Regulation (videos of all the talks are in the process of being put up on the law school's home page).  A few quick comments: (1) I thought the event was exceptional from beginning to end and the entire Chapman School of Law should be proud--I doubt anyone left there with anything but the most positive impression; (2) California has sunshine, Cleveland has grey skies; California has warm breezes, Cleveland has snow ... no, I'm not bitter; and, (3) the overall view of Dodd-Frank was extremely negative.  At the very end of the last panel one of the students in the audience even asked something along the lines of: "Given all the negativity, would we be better off without Dodd-Frank?"  I think the response that was given was the correct one:  The negativity is not so much a function of there not being anything to praise in Dodd-Frank.  Rather, the negativity is a function of a seemingly pervasive sense (at least at this symposium) that Dodd-Frank represents more than anything a missed opportunity to deal with, among other things, the problems of the "Washington Consensus."

SJP