Retro-prospective

Uncertainty is the bane of markets. So the apparently piecemeal nature of the US government’s response to the financial crisis has eroded confidence. Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke took a somewhat belated step toward restoring it in a speech on Tuesday. His diagnosis of the roots of the economic crisis – “too big to fail” banks, ad hoc financial infrastructure, pro-cyclical regulation, fractured oversight – makes sense. Granted, some of these issues appear intrac...