Arguing by Proxy

Arguing by proxy is a bad habit. All to often, you hear people reciting someone's arguments as their own without completely understanding the original position. When two of these people go at it, you might as well walk away.

That said, Brad Delong, a blogger for whom I have the utmost respect has a recollection of Robert Rubin's position on the regulation of derivatives in the late 90's that differs significantly with a recent report by Frontline on the same subject.

I'm not about to breach my own etiquette standards and quote Frontline's position at Delong in his comments section. The proper thing to do is to post a link instead and ask for an opinion. I'm sure nothing will ever come of it, but at least here I have the chance to put both positions side by side.

For my own part, I don't think its being too cynical to side with Frontline and say that Rubin is only in favor of regulation now, in hind-sight, after he helped crash Citigroup into the ground using derivatives.