Kara M. Stein is a Commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The following post is based on Commissioner Stein’s recent remarks at an open meeting of the SEC, available here. The views expressed in this post are those of Ms. Stein and do not necessarily reflect those of the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff.
I am pleased to be here with you today [October 28, 2016]. This conference is a vital opportunity to discuss some of the forces shaping financial markets and regulation.
“What hath God wrought.” That message, sent from Washington to Baltimore in 1844, signaled the arrival of the telegraph. Originally an exclamation, but sometimes written as a question, it captures both the wonder and uncertainty that new technologies can inspire. The telegraph proved to be a transformative technology. Information was no longer limited by the speed of a horse, but could spread almost instantaneously. Farmers in one part of the country could learn about prices in distant markets, and an expanding country would soon communicate from one coast to another.