After two more days of hearings this week about the 2008 credit meltdown, the lid on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's black box remains shut and locked. Testifying Thursday before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Mr. Bernanke made clearer than ever that financial "systemic risk" is whatever he and his fellow regulators decide it is. Read on and weep at how little has changed despite financial "reform."

The danger of a systemic financial failure was the government's catch-all justification...