The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure

As we move through the fifth anniversary of our nation’s financial meltdown, big government advocates have created a myth that deregulation of the banking industry caused the financial crisis. In fact, the financial services (banking) industry is the most regulated industry in the world.

The financial crisis was not the result of banking deregulation or lapses in government oversight. It was caused by government misregulation and mismanagement, along with errors made by the Federal Reserve, and from government housing policies—especially Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

I am not speaking from a distant platform of theory and speculation. As the nation’s longest-serving CEO of a top-25 financial institution, having served as chairman of BB&T for 20 years, my book —The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure—details my inside view of the events as they lead to the financial crisis, and the steps taken by both sides to find remedies.

Did Wall Street’s actions lead us to an economic free-fall? No. Does government need to place even stronger regulations on the financial industry? Absolutely not —that approach already took us over a cliff. Can jobs be created by layering even more restrictions on the free market? Our now being in the midst of the slowest recovery in U.S. history answers that.

The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure not only lays bare what truly maimed our economy —how government incentives inflated the real estate bubble to unsustainable proportions; how increased regulation strangled rather than energized our economy, and much more—but also serves as a profound warning against pursuing the wrong solutions. I don’t simply fix blame. I also offer genuine, experience-based solutions, and in the book I detail:

– Why regulation is bad for the market – and for the world

– What steps we can take to promote a healthy free market

– How we can help end unemployment in America

– The truth about TARP and the bailouts

– How Washington can remove the obstacles to restoring American Prosperity