Despite "Good Intentions," Regulatory Reform Ultimately Fails

It is tempting to think that the government can "do something" to prevent consumer gouging, financial fraud or other ills. Certainly regulations and laws can be crafted.

The problem is that when the stakes are high enough, businesses always will have incentives to comply with the new regulations or rules and then simply shift effort elsewhere to recoup their losses.

Banks, like almost every other business that works under any federal regulations, are like water seeping through cracks in the rock.

The financial reform bill will ultimately fail. When there are huge financial stakes, smart people will find ways to evade the rules and strike out in new areas. That observation is simply a matter of historical record. Sarbanes Oxley rules designed to prevent Enron style failures have not prevented any of the current wave of failures. As nearly as anybody can determine, Sarbanes Oxley, despite imposing huge costs on public companies, prevented nothing and protected nobody.

Every set of regulations essentially fights the last war. But that never seems to deter people from thinking they can prevent the next problem by protecting against the last one. That's virtually never the case.

Banks Find Ways Around Reform Costs - 24/7 Wall St.:

Facebook Building Its Own Phone???

Facebook denies the rumor, but is said to be planning on building and distributing its own mobile device.

You might wonder, if the rumor is true, why it might do so. Some speculate that Facebook might believe it cannot have as much impact on the mobile world as it has on the web without one.

Having its own device helps Facebook become a mobile platform, not just an app running on a platform.

Here's Why Facebook Is Secretly Building A Phone: It Needs To Be A Platform, Not Just A Service:

Will Verizon Launch Apple iPhone on its LTE Network?

It is questionable whether a faster mobile network automatically leads to consumer demand. "Hot" devices or lead applications tend to be required as well. All of which might suggest the best way for Verizon Wireless to stoke demand for its coming Long Term Evolution network is to launch the Apple iPhone directly on 4G, rather than its 3G network.

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Short Mobile App Shelf Life Isn't Necessarily a Bad Thing

Today the average smartphone has 22 apps on it, but the half-life of an app is about a month. In six months only five percent of them have been retained, according to Borrell Assoiciates.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing. The most-popular type of mobile app downloaded to smartphones is "games." People play them for a while, then move on.

Other types of content, such as movie or other content apps, will have a similar short shelf life. People watch TV shows or movies and then do not necessarily return to using them in the future. That's not a problem; it's an opportunity.

But the general observation still holds: few developers are likely to make much incremental revenue from their mobile apps. But that might not be the primary purpose for producing an app.

Promotion always has been a leading reason for advertising, and apps with short lifespan that promote purchases of movie tickets, content, games and other products still are worth doing, from that perspective.

Preference for In-App Advertising Strong Across Platforms

In-App Advertising Works

In-app advertising appears to work, according to Nielsen.

In-App Advertising Preferred by End Users

Mobile advertising is increasingly finding its way into mobile apps, with teenagers being much more receptive than their elders, says Nielsen.

Fifty-eight percent of teens say they “always” or “sometimes” look at mobile ads. In general, men of all ages are more receptive to mobile ads than women. Only 37 percent of men say they are not at all likely to respond to an ad on a mobile device, compared to 44 percent of women.

Across all operating systems, apps users would prefer to view mobile ads within an app. Android users are more likely to click on an advertisement within an application, while iPhone users are the least interested in having ads take them outside of their application.