A hero emerges out of the mess

I've had my eye on Elizabeth Warren ever since I first saw her on TV explaining in simple terms what went wrong with the economy. She's smart, articulate, fearless in calling out the Big Guys, the one who seems to know how things should be done; and -- that rare commodity in the world of finance -- she is unencumbered by loyalty to Wall Street.

Elizabeth Warren -- Harvard Law Professor, overseer of TARP money, and champion of the consumers and the middle class -- has a piece in today's Wall Street Journal in which she says:

For years, Wall Street CEOs have thrown away customer trust like so much worthless trash.

Banks and brokers have sold deceptive mortgages for more than a decade. Financial wizards made billions by packaging and repackaging those loans into securities. And federal regulators played the role of lookout at a bank robbery, holding back anyone who tried to stop the massive looting from middle-class families. When they weren't selling deceptive mortgages, Wall Street invented new credit card tricks and clever overdraft fees.

She is a strong advocate for Obama's plan for a consumer protection agency, which the banks strongly oppose.

So far, Wall Street CEOs seem determined to stop any kind of watchdog. They seem to think that they can run their businesses forever without our trust. This is a bad calculation.

It's a bad calculation because shareholders suffer enormously from the long-term cost of the boom-and-bust cycles that accompany a poorly regulated market. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently explained this brave new world, saying that crises should be expected 'every five to seven years.'

He is wrong.

Warren says that the banks' reputation is going up in flames amid a lack of consumer regulations that then fuels competition to see who can make the most money by tricking consumers.

Smart woman. Put her in charge of the whole financial mess. Or let her run for Senator from Massachusetts in 2012 and take back Teddy's seat.

Ralph