Contrasting and analysing the role of regulation and regulators in dealing with two financial crises in the United States brought on by epidemics of control fraud - the us savings and loan debacle of the 1980s and the ongoing financial crisis that first became acute in the us non-prime mortgage sector - this essay argues that there is no substitute for effective regulation. Deregulation, which relies on private market discipline does not prevent or contain such epidemics. On the contrary, it fosters a climate that encourages them.
