Can stock markets regulate themselves? History of markets offers insight into effects of regulation on success of initial public offerings

Can stock markets regulate themselves? History of markets offers insight into effects of regulation on success of initial public offerings

Whenever crisis threatens the financial markets, voices are loud in calling for greater control. It is dubious, however, whether tighter regulation would actually offer investors better protection against losing their capital. "Economic history shows us that strictly regulated stock markets do not necessarily function better than those that are given a free hand," says historian and economist Carsten Burhop of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn.