Frank, one of the brainiest members of Congress, is proposing that the Federal Reserve become a regulator of systemic risk, with the power to regulate firms that because of their size or strategic position are of systemic importance.  -- article link

The Fed already has its job, one it is not necessarily doing all that well.  It is part of the system so it should not be tasked with regulating the system.  If a systemic regulator is needed separate from extant regulators, it should be yet another office in the Federal Government, whether under Congress or under the Executive.  Maybe a Regulation Czar is needed to be sure the various regulators are working together, sorta like so-called Intelligence Agencies now are supposed to work together more and better than before 9/11.  I believe the basic problem is moral decay rather than a need for yet another layer of regulation.  But I'm not a Wall St. insider so maybe Donaldson and Cox were right to let companies leverage at 40 to 1, and Greenspan right to pump money out like it was going out of style, and Bush-McCain right to pretend to want to regulate, ...

I usually like his points, but Frank has it all wrong here.