British Freedom, Transparency, and Markets

This May 26 speech by David Cameron is a reason headlines have him winning today in the U.K. My two favorite paragraphs:

In media, shopping, travel, entertainment and music we have huge choice and control, from many organisations that offer us incredible service and value.

But when it comes to the things we ask from politics, government and the state — there is a sense of power and control draining away; having to take what you’re given, with someone else pulling the strings.

Cameron gets it. Not only does he explain the value of transparency — he understands the consequences of its absence:

Bankers acting recklessly can say they’ve been cleared by the regulator — and then demand a bailout from taxpayers.

As I’ve hinted here several times, much less deftly, it was opacity in the shadow banking system, leading to a market failure — not regulation itself — that failed us. Yes, better regulation would have provided better transparency, but even now, with different regulators in charge, there’s little visible progress bringing the standards needed for transparency to the shadow banking system.

One hopes the people of the U.K., as they did three decades ago when they introduced the world to Margaret Thatcher, are again bringing us a leader who can reignite the unique power of market transparency to restore the economy and restore power to the people.