ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates how the conflicting and conflating interests manifest themselves in the governance of Wall Street. The conflation serves to constrain the definition of state capacity, while sidestepping the thorny issue of bureaucratic capture through the deployment of ideological and financial capital. S. Teslik's evidence provides support for the view that there are systemic roots to the crisis in the functioning of the financial markets. The chapter argues that blaming excesses on corrupted individuals has a distinct purpose: continued misplaced faith in the efficacy of self-regulation. Empirical evidence is achieved through an analysis of the limitations placed on the most important regulatory forces in the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange. The Securities and Exchange Commission overarches the regulatory structure of the financial markets in the United States.
