#74 Planet Money: Wall Street Creativity

Congress has been arguing for months now about the best ways to overhaul the American system of financial regulation. It's a tough conversation, because regulation can be bad in a couple of ways.

First, regulation can be ineffective, in which case it fails to prevent the outcomes it was designed to block or causes more problems than it solves. Second, regulation can overreach, in which case it stifles financial innovation.

After newfangled financial products nearly brought down the global economy last fall, you might think it's not so bad to stifle financial innovation. But financial innovation has also led to prosperity. Atlantic writer Mike Konczal and Columbia Business School economist Charles Calomiris argue the pros and cons of Wall Street creativity.