There was a decent chance that authorities could conclude that a regulatory response was necessary to generate the desired improvement in market structure and conduct. But the Code provided the opportunity for a joint public/private sector approach to address the lack of trust and market dysfunction. The Code is not regulation.
As I have indicated previously, I believe we may have seen the bottom on the productivity slowdown, but how much of the recent welcome uptick in productivity growth can be sustained or extended is hard to judge at this point. It will depend in part on how much business investment spending adds to the stock of capital in the economy.