Dodd Frank loves Basel!

In the aftermath of the 2008 recession, governments across the globe scrambled to attempt to save the high finance industry from every causing such problems again. With the incessant greed, the never ending consumption, and the willingness to sacrifice the common man for monetary profit, the finance industry required vast transformations. Yet, on which particular type of transformation and regulation no one would agree upon. At the end of the day, two major philosophies and economic theories were advanced. The first, which occurred in the United States, was the passing of Dodd Frank - a few thousand page document which extensively detailed new regulatory agencies, and created a system in which all banks had to look after one another. Some would argue that Dodd Frank was a necessary step towards a more stable industry. Others however, will point to the interference in the free market by the government as an unjustified, and ultimately costly mistake. Effectively, Dodd Frank took the coercive power away from financial centers that gained profit at the cost of the average person, and gave all the power to the people, at the cost of the bank's profitability and bottom line. Needless to say it made finance 'still cheap' for the average person and allowed American's to continue living a more expensive life than they paid for.
Conversely, the European response to the recession was the passage of Basel III, a regulatory document that imposed drastic measures to ensure that the financial world were to never collapse again. In it's essence it demanded that people only borrow what they could return, demanded high up front capitol and basically prevented from risky lending, the main cause of the U.S recession.
Ultimately, time will tell which regulation will provide for the better long term response, but it goes a long way to highlight many cultural differences between the United States and their European counterparts.