Given what's happened, it's amazing that the Wall Street lobby is still spouting the sophistry that led to the financial crisis. This is from a Wall Street Journal story on the Basel III accords.

Many bankers were less enthusiastic. "Every dollar of capital is one less dollar working in the economy," the Financial Services Roundtable, a lobbying group of large U.S. financial firms, said in a statement.

No, every dollar of capital is a dollar spent on an insurance policy against another disaster. Excessive leverage is poison. Wall Street is well able to finance a thriving economy while maintaining common equity of 7 percent.