Like Jim, I think that (however questionable Obama’s motivation) there’s quite a lot to be said for the Volcker plan for the banks (despite the logical flaws ably pointed out by Nicole), and as someone who remembers watching (albeit from afar) Volcker’s stint at the Fed, it is impossible not to be impressed by his record there. At the same time, we should not forget that the great man is far from infallible. Most notably, he was active in efforts to persuade the Brits to sign up for the Euro in the late 1990s. Britain’s current economic condition is, thanks to more than a decade of Blair/Brown misrule, dire. A Sterling crisis remains a distinct possibility for this year. That said, if the U.K. had followed Volcker’s advice. the position would have been far, far worse, amazing though that may seem.

It was always quite clear that for Britain to join the euro would have been an obvious disaster, yet the pressure of establishment opinion made Volcker insist otherwise. That is something well worth remembering when we consider his current proposals.