Introduction to the conference on the profitability of NYSE specialists.

Recent news reports about the compensation of New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso have focused unusual attention on questions of governance and the absence of market discipline at the NYSE. Because the NYSE is owned and operated by its members and enjoys special government benefits that limit competition...

The new governance structure at theNew York Stock Exchangeshould result in a more engaged board of directors, nimbler decision-making, and more effective regulation of trading practices.

Yes, we need to reduce dishonesty and corruption among our corporations, but we should look to our political class as well.

Ever since the National Market System was mandated in 1975, the Securities and Exchange Commission has assumed that Congress intended to encourage the development of a centralized national securities market, where a high degree of liquidity would produce the best prices for investors and traders. However, technological and...

China and Russia have decided to renounce the U.S. dollar and want to use their own currencies for bilateral trade in an attempt to lodge a complaint about its mismanagement.

If we view the New York central bank as a bank, we see that it has a very small capital ratio with very large leverage.

The modest appreciation of China's currency should not cause much change and China must do more to prevent an international protectionist backlash.