U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
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Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#2Was it inevitable that the Equifax situation became partisan?
I'm a market constructivist, and I'd prefer the simplest possible solution which regulates Equifax and its immense externalities out of existence.
But isn't there also a libertarian case to be made that the credit authorities are a cartel and should be deregulated out of existence? And if that's the case, can't at least some of us find common ground?
Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#3"US senators" here referring to most of the minority party, and none of the majority party, meaning nothing is likely to come of this until after 2018.
Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#4Was it inevitable that the Equifax situation became partisan? I'm a market constructivist, and I'd prefer the simplest possible solution which regulates Equifax and its immense externalities out of existence. But isn't there also a libertarian case to be made that the credit authorities are a cartel and should be deregulated out of existence? And if that's the case, can't at least some of us find common ground?
The libertarians I know would probably say that it's the government's fault that this situation arose. I don't think they would have an answer how to deal with the current situation.
Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#5Was it inevitable that the Equifax situation became partisan? I'm a market constructivist, and I'd prefer the simplest possible solution which regulates Equifax and its immense externalities out of existence. But isn't there also a libertarian case to be made that the credit authorities are a cartel and should be deregulated out of existence? And if that's the case, can't at least some of us find common ground?
No, the Equifax breach hurt tons of constituents on both sides of the aisle. The parties had every reason to come together on this. Especially the Republicans, because the lack of trust will be bad for business. But it seems the ones elected at the moment are beholden to specific donors and not accountable to the people they're supposed to represent.
I'm not clear on how deregulation would hurt Equifax and the other reporting agencies? It seems that enforcing regulations would hurt them in this case.
Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#6A previous HN discussion, possibly on Equifax now that I think about it, had a comment recommending the book "The Chickenshit Club", about why the justice department doesn't prosecute.
I just finished in it a discussion of Enron and their auditors, Arthur Andersen. The justice department prosecuted Andersen (one of the "big 5" accounting firms at the time), and there was a lot of backlash about the Justice Dept "killing Andersen".
The details of it are that Enron was way crooked, lying to investors and the public saying everything was great, when it wasn't. Andersen audits didn't reveal this, and also was responsible for increasing document shredding from 80lbs/day to >2,000lbs/day in the few days before the SEC subpoena. And this was after Andersen had been shown to be negligent in the auditing of Worldcom, QWest, and Globalcom.
Basically, they recommended fraudulent practices with WorldCom, got caught and said "We promise we will never do that again" and did it again with Enron.
Justice Dept prosecuted, and then there was all this backlash about the prosecution.
So, is prosecution of Equifax likely? Seems like we as a country have trained the government not to.
Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#7Was it inevitable that the Equifax situation became partisan? I'm a market constructivist, and I'd prefer the simplest possible solution which regulates Equifax and its immense externalities out of existence. But isn't there also a libertarian case to be made that the credit authorities are a cartel and should be deregulated out of existence? And if that's the case, can't at least some of us find common ground?
The libertarians I know would probably say that it's the government's fault that this situation arose. I don't think they would have an answer how to deal with the current situation.
If they think it's the government's fault, that's not necessarily a barrier to agreement on a course of action. If there's a law that can pass that libertarians can call "deregulation" I could potentially get behind it so long as it has the desired effect.
For instance, it's my understanding that laws exist which protect the big three credit authorities. What are those laws, and what the prospects for changing them?
Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#8A previous HN discussion, possibly on Equifax now that I think about it, had a comment recommending the book "The Chickenshit Club", about why the justice department doesn't prosecute. I just finished in it a discussion of Enron and their auditors, Arthur Andersen. The justice department prosecuted Andersen (one of the "big 5" accounting firms at the time), and there was a lot of backlash about the Justice Dept "kill…
Second the recommendation for Chickenshit Club (also helps interpret the speed and proceedings of other DOJ cases in play).
Equifax is largely embedded in our business/credit infrastructure and there would be collateral consequences for all of the businesses who would have to change as a result of their punishment/demise. This in no way absolves them from responsibility but DOJ pragmatism towards corporations is they way it goes, for now.
If AWS (for example) experienced some significant breach, would the DOJ and/or the public want them punished out of existence? Execs go to jail vs. large corporate fine? Should punitive damages go towards patching the breach or refunding customers? It's a delicate balance and I'm personally undecided on how to scope the fix, even after reading Chickenshit Club.
Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#9Was it inevitable that the Equifax situation became partisan? I'm a market constructivist, and I'd prefer the simplest possible solution which regulates Equifax and its immense externalities out of existence. But isn't there also a libertarian case to be made that the credit authorities are a cartel and should be deregulated out of existence? And if that's the case, can't at least some of us find common ground?
I feel like it is inevitable because the current crop of right wing politicians are hard core ideologues. Pragmatism is not in their vocabulary.
Re: U.S. senators ask consumer watchdog head for details on Equifax probe
#10A previous HN discussion, possibly on Equifax now that I think about it, had a comment recommending the book "The Chickenshit Club", about why the justice department doesn't prosecute. I just finished in it a discussion of Enron and their auditors, Arthur Andersen. The justice department prosecuted Andersen (one of the "big 5" accounting firms at the time), and there was a lot of backlash about the Justice Dept "kill…
Second the recommendation for Chickenshit Club (also helps interpret the speed and proceedings of other DOJ cases in play). Equifax is largely embedded in our business/credit infrastructure and there would be collateral consequences for all of the businesses who would have to change as a result of their punishment/demise. This in no way absolves them from responsibility but DOJ pragmatism towards corporations is they…
1775 USA: If we don't like the king, we shouldn't get rid of the monarchy - think of the impacts to the wider society!
2018 USA: If we don't like the executive, we shouldn't get rid of foocorp - think of the impacts to the wider society!
systemic/structural answers to specific problems are rarely the solution, but they sure do help you avoid the cost of dealing with the specific problem..