You cannot write legislation that makes an institution function well because outcomes are idiosyncratic to the individuals who take office; you cannot make a Volcker or a Greenspan behave a certain way, but you can change incentives at the margin and look for people willing to say 'that's not our responsibility' or honestly 'I don't know.'

normativepending

Speaker

Michael Belongia

Evidence Quote

you can't write legislation that will make an institution function all of these things are idiosyncratic to the individuals who take office

Source

Michael Belongia on the Fed 01/11/2010EconTalk
Created: 6/15/2026, 9:37:51 AM

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