The Volcker Rule
By:
C. Elise Van Sant
New Haven, CT
Occupy Wall Street camps have grown smaller as the winter has set in. They're nearly abandoned at night as
people retreat into their warm homes to sleep in their warm beds. General Assembly still has, in many locations,
reasonable attendance, though certainly not to the same degree as it had in warmer weather. Many of the
camps have been disbanded altogether due to local law enforcement – in fact, we are very lucky in New Haven
to have such a cooperative police force such that we can remain assembled despite the weather and perhaps a
decrease in morale. In many cases, the people that are left at the formerly occupied sites are the extremists and
the homeless, leaving the almost completely abandoned camps a bleak sight. Just as the movement was
beginning to garner the respect and recognition needed to elicit real change, participation floundered due to
weather and weariness, and in many places increasing police involvement (again, less so here in New Haven).
Much of the respect and positive attention the Occupy movement had been receiving has decreased
considerably.
We have come too far to let this movement die out because of a change in seasons. The movement will have to
be rebuilt as Occupiers return in the spring. Hopefully, the return of the warm weather will hail a fresh influx of
protestors and the movement will be injected with new vigor. Just as was done the first time, last autumn, the
movement will have to build again, will have to attract attention and organize. But this time, we have a head
start. The movement has organized into several different groups with different goals, and this February, one of
those groups has made a remarkable achievement. The group calls itself “Occupy the SEC” (and their website
can be found here: http://www.occupythesec.org/).
The SEC (Securities and Exchanges Commission) is a federal agency whose goal it is to oversee the
implementation of the Dodd-Frank act. But before the Dodd-Frank Act can be implemented, the SEC is required
to seek public comment. And so formed Occupy the SEC – a group of Occupiers with considerable experience in
the financial industry. Led by Alexis Goldstein, the group produced a comment letter on section 619 of the DoddFrank Act, also called the Volcker rule. The purpose of the Volcker Rule is to regulate proprietary trading by the
banks, and to increase transparency. The comment letter is 325 pages long, answering 244 out of 395 questions
proposed by the SEC regulators in the request for public comment. The Volcker rule originally was full of so
many loopholes and exceptions as to make it essentially self-castrating. Thanks to the incisiveness of Occupy
the SEC, however, the Volcker rule has the potential to turn into a very powerful regulatory statute, should the
suggestions be followed. The group has demonstrated an unexpectedly keen and thorough understanding of the
section.
The letter was extraordinarily well-received. Several prominent financial bloggers and publications gave high
praise, including Felix Salmon of Reuters. It's been enough to make many of the movement's detractors take a
second look, enough to make people question their notions of this movement as just a directionless group of
dirty hippies. Now, we are finally able to show the world that we are organized, that we do have a purpose and a
goal – several goals – and have the talent and ability to call for the change we're seeking. Yes, the movement
has made other contributions and comments of similar quality and professionalism, but none have been so high profile. The reputation of the movement is critical to the sustainment of the movement, and this letter achieves
that.
Part of the beauty of this movement is its free-spirited nature. It has drawn independent thinkers, people who are
not afraid to be bold and outspoken about their views. It has drawn together true talent and people with great
leadership skills. On the other side, unfortunately, it has drawn much attention from people with more extreme
points of view – in particular, anarchists and the extreme anti-establishment. While there is no inherent problem
working with these people, they often have unconventional (and sometimes illegal) methods that do injustice to
the reputation of Occupy Wall Street on the whole. We cannot afford any more defects in our reputation. This is
one among the many reasons why we need incisive minds like that of Alexis Goldstein and her collaborators to
continue to contribute in such vital ways. It is important to demonstrate cohesiveness. We have shared goals.
Our marches are not just pleasant Sunday afternoon strolls; the encampments are not mini-Woodstocks. We are
not some parody of the Vietnam and Civil Rights protests of the 60's. We are relevant and we are now
developing the organization and cohesion needed to state our purposes and make demands.
Now is the time to rebuild our morale, restate our purposes, and show the world the power of the 99%.