“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and remember to apply ‘the grandma test.'”
When you are faced with a difficult decision, picture this: you’re sitting at Thanksgiving dinner, the family is gathered around the table, and grandma comes in holding a newspaper with your picture on it. If she is happy to read about your decision, it was probably a good decision. If not, it was probably the wrong decision.
Gary DeWaal knows regulation. He knows that good financial market regulation serves the public interest, and is neither overly prescriptive nor overly ambiguous. Good financial regulation addresses not only the state of the market structure, but also anticipates the future of the market and its participants.
He says that no regulation is perfect, but that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. And as for those minor imperfections? Well, grandma is watching.
