Harold H. Greene Quotes
They say I am a regulator and I think it is just an effort not to comply with the decree. I do not do anything except what the decree requires me to do.
Greene, Harold H. Oral History Interview. Conducted by Stephen J. Pollak, Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit, 1995.
Conversations about pollution and environmental safety
This was a very important quotation because Cox was a strong advocate of deregulation and voluntary regulation, and that is why he was appointed to head the SEC by George W. Bush. He was the leading Republican expert on Regulation of the Stock Markets and sale of public securities. However when the Meltdown of 2008 hit, it was clear to all but the extreme ideologues that some Federal regulation was necessary. Nonetheless, it took several years to reform the regulations for the financial industry with the Banks and Wall Street fighting it all the way and by that time the Republican Party had been so dominated by ideological conservatives that the views of Cox and others no longer had much influence. They fought the Dodd-Frank reforms to go preserve self regulation to a great extent.
He was referring to Fannie Mae, the government-created. private mortage guarantee company. It was heavily regulated, and in general it met the regulatory requirements. However, the requirements were insufficient, and in the 2008 Meltdown and the Great Recession that followed, Fannie Mae itself was in such bad financial condition, that the Federal Government had bail them out or have the entire home mortgage industry fall apart.
He and his brother are the largest political contributors in the United States, so they have enormous influence on Republicans (they only make political contributions to conservative organizations).
Harold Herman Greene was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
