His problem is that it is an iron law of hoo-hahs that a cabinet minister who stirs up too many of them comes to be seen by his prime minister as a liability.

ECONOMIST: Ethics man

But the effect of the new laws, says Michael Williams of the Bond Market Association in New York, could be simply to push secondary-market participants, fearful of liability, out of the sub-prime business altogether.

ECONOMIST: Lawmakers, state and federal, are mounting an attack