Misbegotten Volcker Rule Can Still Do Good

Long debated and long-awaited, the Volcker rule is being hailed as the 21st-century equivalent of the Depression-era legislation known as the Glass-Steagall Act.

For proponents of the rule rolled out Tuesday, it imposes a needed ban on proprietary-trading strategies by banks that deserve the lion’s share of the blame for the recent financial crisis. They may well be right. But they should consider this: Eighty years ago, financial reformers believed they had found the culprit responsible for the crash and banking crisis that inaugurated the Great Depression. And they were wrong.