It must have been tempting to aim for a quick, crowd-pleasing goal, such as the introduction of hanging for those who sell or repackage subprime mortgages. But Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, certainly does not plan to fight the last war. His long-awaited blueprint for streamlining the US financial regulatory system is not a knee-jerk response to the credit crisis. That is a relief, given the current clamour for Something To Be Done. It may even be a step in the right direction.

Mr Paulson’s proposal is to widen the regulatory net and give greater powers to a smaller number of regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, is to merge with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Insurers could opt for federal regulation rather than state regulation. The Federal Reserve would acquire more power to curb risk-taking by investment banks, although this power is intended only to be used when the overall stability of the financial markets is under threat.