When was the last time that you sat down and read a 1,300 page novel? In the sense of really reading it, understanding every page, and conducting an intelligent debate on the contents later?
It is a question that investors, bankers and politicians in America should ponder, not to mention those angry citizens who were protesting in New York yesterday. After all, the debate about financial reform is reaching fever pitch in Washington and on Wall Street, as Republicans and Democrats bicker over reform bills – and bankers reel from the inquisition of Goldman Sachs on Tuesday.
One curious facet to this debate is that almost nobody I have met in the banking or political world appears to have actually read much (let alone all) of those financial reform bills. Little wonder. Senator Chris Dodd's basic bill currently runs to more than 1,300 pages, with more than 300 on derivatives alone. Numerous counter proposals are floating around, too. It is a truly intimidating volume of paper, even before you start trying to talk about how centralised clearing houses, say, might actually work.