Taming Finance by Empowering Regulators: A Survey of Policies, Politics and Possibilities

This paper examines important and desirable reforms of the international financial regulatory and taxation architecture, both from the perspective of their technical desirability and their political feasibility. The paper provides insights into how to increase the chances that desirable changes in the financial and taxation architecture will actually happen. In providing a map on the prospects of financial reform, the paper identifies the main political and technical hazards to be navigated. To do so, and pinpoint the key dangers, the paper employs Albert Hirschmann‘s framework for understanding negative reactions to reform agendas. We conclude by stressing that the need for reform is vital given the threat financial crises pose to development and poverty reduction