Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an tOllamh Black chun an coiste. I welcome Professor Black. We are short on time and, as he can see, we have a very strict Chair. I will delve straight into an article Professor Black wrote in 2009 entitled “Those Who Forget the Regulatory Successes of the Past are Condemned to Failure”. He presents in it a model of how to build an effective financial regulatory body. He talks about an analysis of data to look for patterns of emerging risks, including patterns of incomes that are too good to be true. He discussed what that means earlier in his testimony. The final point of his six-point plan calls for the prosecution of “elite control frauds" regardless of their political patrons. That is the issue I would like Professor Black to discuss. What does he mean by "political patrons"? Based on his knowledge in terms of his vast experience in the United States, could he tell the committee what political patrons mean in this context and the effect such a relationship would have on the financial crisis?