The Treasury blueprint; Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson started a conversation in Washington when he proposed a sweeping blueprint for revamping regulation of U.S. financial services providers. Winners and losers are lining up on both sides of the proposal

Mortgage Banking, Sept, 2008 by Jack Milligan

Change of this magnitude takes a strong leader to bring about in Washington, particularly when other strong individuals are fighting just as hard to maintain the status quo.

"The present regulatory system works quite well," says Hawke. "The people who are regulated understand it. And there's no clamor in the industry or by the public to change the structure, as illogical as it might be."

If Hawke is correct, then the Paulson plan will end up becoming just an interesting intellectual exercise.

Jack Milligan is a freelance writer based in Charlottesville. Virginia, and the former editor-in-chief of U.S. Banker. He can be reached at johnwmilligan@aol.com.