Financial ‘toxic waste’

The Wall Street Journal draws an apt comparison between the strict regulation of chemical companies, and the lack of effective regulation on financial firms. It comments:
‘Chemical companies are under strict government regulations about what kinds of toxic waste they can produce, where they can store it, and how they can handle it and dispose of it. But during the past five or even 10 years, financial companies have been allowed to create a vast amount of financial toxic waste without much, if any, oversight at all.
‘There were few rules on transporting, handling, or storing it. The labeling was inadequate at best. No one had any idea of how to dispose of it, either. It was the other guy’s problem. This is how all this stuff ended up in your local bank, money market manager, or pension fund.’