Finance & economics | Seeking security

Gary Gensler is the most controversial man in American finance

Donald Trump is just the latest to take a swing. In an interview with The Economist, the SEC chair defends his record

The cut out heads of Donald Trump and Gary Gensler face each other. In the background a series of red bars and an arrow sit on a graph with a scattering of black stars.
Illustration: Klawe Rzeczy/Getty Images
|Washington, DC

How many Securities and Exchange Commission chairs can you name? Even in Washington it is hard to imagine a passer-by being able to come up with more than one. Perhaps the best known is Joe Kennedy, the sec’s first chairman, who took office during the Depression when Americans had lost faith in markets and were clamouring for protection against conmen and fraudsters. And he is most famous for fathering a president.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Seeking security”

From the August 3rd 2024 edition

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