More than 360,000 words in length, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is the longest and most complex piece of financial legislation in American history. The nature and magnitude of its effects, both intended and unintended, will become clearer as regulators exercise the broad discretion given to them under the law. In this new book, the contributors ask whether the law is an effective response to the financial crisis that so deeply rattled our nation. Taking a hard look at the law's celebrated objectives, they reveal that it not only fails to achieve many of its stated goals, it also creates dangerous regulatory pathologies that could lay the groundwork for the next crisis.