In considering the “shape of things to come” — the theme that focuses this conference — one thing is certain: The regime regulating our financial markets is undergoing dramatic change. The case in point is the Dodd-Frank Act, which represents a historic expansion of the federal government’s power over the economy. The hundreds of rules and regulations that Dodd-Frank demands of the SEC and other financial regulators indicate just how far the government has reached into the private sector and just how heavy the government’s hand will be. Or, stated differently, the regulatory change demonstrates the degree to which government decision making, effectuated as it is through more regulation, will displace and distort private sector decision making.

To put it more directly, I have been and remain troubled that the Dodd-Frank regulatory regime goes too far. Without question, there is a fundamental role for government, including the SEC, in regulating our financial markets and our economy more generally; and we need a regulatory framework that is resilient and that fits our increasingly interconnected and complex financial system. None of us welcomes the kind of hardship and turmoil that the financial crisis wrought. The key question, therefore, is not whether we will or should have regulation. The answer to that question is straightforward: we will and we should. The real question is, “How much?”

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