Monsters Under the Bed?

None should ever be the reason for regulatory overreach. Regulations are necessary to control the flow of critical activities, but not impede them. Perceived potential problems or problems that regulations cannot resolve are poor excuses for regulatory activity. Historic or fact based controllable problems are legitimate reasons to promulgate well developed regulations. Uncertainty of the present time makes reflection that much more important.  

I had a discussion with a new client about interest rates.  He was heavily invested in bond funds. He must have been listening to some talking head on TV or reading the NCUA chief economist’s interest rate predictions. He had not yet achieved his 6^th decade and had limited understanding of the cautionary tale that I gave him about interest rates in the late 70s and early 80s. He stated he and his wife were in grad school working on their PhDs, so they did not really experience the economic impact of interest rate fluctuations of the late 70s and early 80s. I really started to feel real old as my memory of being excited about scoring a 13.5% mortgage on my home purchase was brought back.