WILL WE GET THE FINANCIAL REFORM WE NEED?

I'm beginning to think it is unlikely even though people like Paul Volcker recognize that the great Wall Street Casino of Financial Engineering doesn't seem to have done much to improve our economy. The reason I am pessimistic is because the Myth of Free Market Fairy has a very powerful hold in the American mind and according to Prof. Solow, we don't have any hard data to dispel this myth:

It remains hard to believe that it all adds anything much to the efficiency with which the real economy generates and improves our standard of living.

If that suspicion is valid--I emphasize that the necessary calculations have not been made and will be hard to make--the conclusion would be that our poorly regulated financial system is not only dangerously unstable, but also too big and too complex, absorbing talent and resources that could be better used doing something else.