The tension between protecting consumers and making credit broadly available is one that is as important in making an individual loan as it is to ensuring the stability of the economy. The key to successful policy formulation is to resist the temptation to regulate the problem of the moment.
For example, if, in reaction to the abuses in consumer and mortgage lending over the past few years, we were to focus solely on consumer protection policies, the result could be overly restrictive access to credit, which could threaten future economic growth.