I am doing this because, during the financial crisis, it has become clearer to me than ever before just how much institutions matter. I am therefore focusing my attention on the institutional framework for the monetary, supervisory and regulatory infrastructure. The US Treasury has presented an ambitious but cogent overall strategy for a longer-term reform of financial supervision.
The “blueprint” addresses the current fragmented structure of financial supervision. It envisages a radically overhauled institutional structure, with a complete change of design in its tasks. I see one particularly important aspect of this blueprint in the fact that the Fed, in the role of a “market stability regulator”, would, for the first time, institutionalise a primarily macro-oriented perspective on the financial system.