Volcker: Depression era bank rules were better

To rein in Wall Street, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker wants to see the return of discarded reforms first implemented during the Great Depression, he told a congressional committee Thursday.

Volcker, who famously conquered the sky-high inflation of the late '70s and '80s when he led the Fed, thinks big banks shouldn't be able to run lucrative-but-risky trading desks or underwrite stock or bond issues. Barring banks from those businesses would help reduce the danger of future crises and lessen the need for big bailouts, he said.