Wall Street Just Doesn't Get IT

Agreed (0.00 / 0)

Thanks for moving past (extremely justified) anger -- and proposing tangible solutions that will help to ensure that this deregulation-inspired catastrophe is never repeated on Wall Street.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Tue Jan 12, 2010 at 08:13:25 AM CST

I think the problem is one of control. (0.00 / 0)

Ever since the decoupling of money from a relatively scarce metal whose availability was able to be controlled by the mine owners and their friends in the financial community, the economic activity of world's people has been more difficult to control.
I should note, parenthetically, that the support for a free, automatic, self-regulating market is not sincere.  Or rather, markets that are free of government regulation are good because that makes them liable to manipulation by the financial class.
In any event, several strategies to secure control have been tried.  They ranged from excluding some populations (minorities and women) from financial participation to manipulating the nominal "cost" of money--i.e. access to it--by jiggling the interest rates.  What we eventually discovered is an unwelcome reality--that economies can be brought to a halt by restricting or sequestering the supply of money (a necessary lubricant of exchange and trade), but it's not possible to make it go faster or change direction that way.  And the idea that people who accumulate large sums of money are better equipped to determine how it is used has been totally debunked, if only because money is most easily accumulated by crooks.

Letting Wall Street monopolize the money supply was a big mistake.  That that was what they were up to didn't become clear until they were given more and did the same thing.

When governmental bodies collect taxes and then spend them on goods and services, that's a very direct process.  It's a process that's not appreciated by the financiers because it means they don't get their cut.  What the financiers prefer is loans and bonds that provide a steady trickle of income into their out-stretched hands.  That's what "trickle-down" really refers to.

The object of the financial class is simply to get a cut from whatever is spent on all public and private enterprise.  That's how they stay comfortable without doing any real work.

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by: hannah @ Tue Jan 12, 2010 at 09:50:32 AM CST

Wall St. Get$ it. (0.00 / 0)

Unless I missed something, bankers are in the business of making money, the more the better. Right now they are making out like bandits...it makes me mad. (in no small part because I am not sharing in the bounty)But it is easy to assess blame after the fact. It is harder to say exactly who is to blame. The people who were reaping gains of 30% a year in the market were not complaining till the party ended. The people buying houses with no money down were happy till the music stopped. We all have opur bete noirs but there is plenty of blame to go around.

I was just laughing at an announcement I received in today's mail for an Economic Forecast luncheon from the Concord Chamber of Commerce. Who can believe anyone who calls themselves a financial expert? None of these so called experts predicted the shitstorm of an economic collapse, until the day after Lehamn fell, 9/16/09. No one knew they were going to fall, or if they did they were not talking.

Yeah the system sucks, but frankly the politicians have done nothing to change that. It is not a good year to be an incumbent in either party, when voters can rightfully ask, 'who was watching the store?'and the answer is, the banking lobbyists.

It is interesting to see how they spend the money. The first benefit apparently is to start a recovery in the $3-5 million dollar segment for NY Real Estate.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/1...
Botox to vacations: Where bankers spend their bonuses

For just $17,500 a night you can rent Dunton Hot Springs, a private town in the Colorado mountains.
By Blake Ellis, contributing writerJanuary 12, 2010: 12:54 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street bankers are putting together their wish lists for 2010 -- and they're not holding back. After last year's dry spell, bonuses for top-level executives are expected to be sky high. Maybe even records.

Bankers at Goldman Sachs and Chase are anticipating bonuses of more than $500,000 a piece, on average, so they'll have plenty to spend.

Here's where they'll be putting the money.

Real Estate: $3 million to $5 million

Buying apartments, second homes and vacation houses tops the list of ways bankers will most likely spend their money.

"Because these are big Wall Street bonuses, people are buying million-dollar-plus properties in the Hamptons, South Florida, skiing communities like Vail and Aspen, and Europe," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the New York-based research firm the Luxury Institute.

Wall Street's big bonus culture
Of course, the first status residence is in Manhattan, and bankers are already starting to check out the goods in advance of their windfall. They're putting up huge down payments, which has helped the $3 million to $5 million sector of the city's housing market to rebound, said Pamela Liebman, CEO of New York-based brokerage firm Corcoran.

At the low end, they can score a three-bedroom, two bath condo right on Central Park or a tony address on Fifth Avenue. The more adventurous poet-at-heart bankers can tap out buying a five-story Queen Anne on the Upper West Side or head to the once-bohemian East Village for two joined buildings that boast an owner's triplex with a stunning terrace -- and income-generating apartments and businesses below.

Of course, many Wall Streeters already own their Manhattan dream homes, so they'll spend their extra money revamping their primary residences, Pedraza said.

A makeover by a well-respected interior decorator can run at least $150,000 -- but usually is more like 30% to 40% of the bonus. Think: Charlie Sheen hiring Daryl Hannah to give his new condo -- and life -- a high-rent makeover in the 1987 flick "Wall Street."

Or, there is always the extravagance of buying a condo on the new Utopia oceanliner. It's the high life on the high seas for just $24 million.

for transparency sake ~I represent Union print shops

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by: JonnyBBad @ Tue Jan 12, 2010 at 16:10:28 PM CST

How about "The Obama Administration doesn't get IT?" (4.00 / 1)

That, IMO, is the question we need to ask. Why did the Obama administration choose Wall Street insiders for his cabinet and how has that compromised the change we voted for in 2008? We can complain about the banks and their greed, but let's keep in mind there are also individuals within the Obama administration that enable them.

My favorite, Matt Taibbi, spoke to Robert F Kennedy Jr. on his AAR and GoLeft program Ring of Fire. You really got to listen in because Taibbi, as always, knows his stuff. This is a guy I can trust. And don't worry Jen Daler, he doesn't swear and cuss this time : )

Seriously, take a listen. Wall Street is a problem for sure. But let's keep in mind those with political power also have a hand in this as well.  We can't ignore the elephant in the room and them off the hook because we're Democratic Party activists/bloggers.

PS: If you disagree with Taibbi, that's great. But keep it civil. That means you DD. No "are you smoking crack" comments would be appreciated.

Part I

Part II

Part III

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by: NH Ex-pat @ Wed Jan 13, 2010 at 07:10:15 AM CST

I meant "leave them off the hook." n/t (0.00 / 0)

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by: NH Ex-pat @ Wed Jan 13, 2010 at 07:11:29 AM CST

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