“The twentieth century was marked by two broad trends: the regulation of capitalism and the deregulation of democracy. Both experiments overreached.”
“This is the permanent tension that lies at the heart of a capitalist democracy and is exacerbated in times of crisis. In order to ensure the survival of the richest, it is democracy that has to be heavily regulated rather than capitalism.”
“Eighty years ago, Woodrow Wilson took America into the twentieth century with a challenge to make the world safe for democracy. As we enter the twenty-first century, our task is to make democracy safe for the world.”
“The political history of the twentieth century is the story of greater and more direct political participation. And success kept expanding democracy's scope. Whatever the ailment, more democracy became the cure.”
“The question is not whether we should or should not regulate; itis how much should we regulate and who the regulators shouldbe. We went overboard on deregulation under Reagan. UnderBush, many people lost in the casino. Now we have the Obamaadministration overreacting and overreaching with regulation thatdoes the exact opposite of wealth creation. If we are to have changewe can believe in, then we could start by replacing the majorityof the lawyers in regulatory agencies with actual experienced, successfulbusiness veterans. They would have recognized the early warningsigns of many of the financial debacles created by the bubble-bustcycle.”
“The whole difference between the nineteenth century and the twentieth century could be summed up in two words, graveyard and cemetery.”