Second, repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial and investment banking, was a mistake. The old model of private partnerships – in which partners had an incentive to monitor each other to avoid reckless investments – gave way to one of public companies aggressively competing with each other and with commercial banks to achieve ever-rising profitability, which was achievable only with reckless levels of leverage.
第二，当年废除禁止商业银行与投资银行混业经营的《格拉斯—斯蒂格尔》法是个错误。废除该法的结果是，老派的私人合伙制世代沿袭的一种传统——合伙人有动力互相监督，避免冒失的投资——让位于上市投行之间，乃至与商行之间的残酷竞争，只有靠大胆采取高杠杆才能在这种利润争夺战中胜出。