Monday, February 14, 2011

Wall Street only goes one way

Good column by Felix Salmon today that should be read in full on how Wall Street is failing in its core public function of allocating capital efficiently. Do read it all but here's the money graf:
"At risk, then, is the shareholder democracy that America forged, slowly, over the past 50 years. Civilians, rather than plutocrats, controlled corporate America, and that relationship improved standards of living and usually kept the worst of corporate abuses in check. With America Inc. owned by its citizens, the success of American business translated into large gains in the stock portfolios of anybody who put his savings in the market over most of the postwar period."
In other words, it's not just deregulation in general that's the problem with Wall Street effectively running what's left of the capitalist economy. The big investors have rigged the game to the point that the wealth will never "trickle down" and there's no one to hold them accountable for their actions. The new velocity of money is a one way street that only leads up to those who need it the least. And they don't care how they get it, just as long as they get to keep it all for themselves.

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5 Comments:

Blogger TDC said...

Libby Spencer wrote in part "The big investors have rigged the game to the point that the wealth will never "trickle down" and there's no one to hold them accountable for their actions."

British Petroleum isn't being "held accountable" for its actions?

Lehman Brothers were not "held accountable" for their actions?

Was your point that GM/Chrysler, Freddie/Fannie, AIG etc.. were not held accountable, and were supported? GM just announced $4k/hourly worker bonus today. Looks like "trickle down" worked in that case


Relative to your sources comments on Apple, fellow Detroit News blogger Mako (aka the Sushi) posted a good response in the Detroit News forum.

Looking forward to your rebuttal.

9:29:00 PM  
Blogger Litzz11@yahoo.com said...

From the column:

"The Tea Party is right about one thing: What’s good for Wall Street isn’t necessarily good for Main Street."

I'm sorry but since when is that a Tea Party thing? We DFH progressives have been saying that for years. Damn we never get credit for anything! The media just doesn't pay attention unless you're wearing a tricorn hat.

10:06:00 PM  
Blogger Libby Spencer said...

That point rankled with me too SoBeale. Conservatives defend corporate greed. They're against gummit regulation and all that...

6:14:00 PM  
Blogger Capt. Fogg said...

Dick Fuld of Lehman Brothers lives down the street from me. Even in today's market his house is probably worth 10-12 million and it's not his only house. He sold his house to his wife for a buck and so they can't take it away from him. Meanwhile foreclosures are ruining middle class families like some sort of medieval plague. Another far less wealthy neighbor of mine blew his brains out last year after losing it all. He left two kids.

Of course Chez Fuld is a shack compared to Tiger's place or Celene's but I haven't noticed the local economy having been improved by the arrival of any of them, unless it's a few gardeners who don't live here anyway.

I lost a damn fortune in '08, but I think he came out better than I did somehow, held 'accountable' or otherwise. But sure, pick out some examples, ignore the rest and you can bloviate that into anything you want. It's just cheap blather and canned opinion, signifying nothing. I don't think our friend has any idea where the very rich put their money and how much trickles down to Marbella and Lichtenstein and the Caymans.

Again it's logic chopping. You take a small piece of a big question and worry it to death, like the blind man hanging on to the elephant's trunk and insisting it's a snake.

And of course, a cheap way of sounding important.

10:38:00 AM  
Blogger Libby Spencer said...

It always comes down to blame Fannie/Freddie in the con crowd Fogg.

So many criticisms of my posts at DetNews are canned GOP responses that is would be amusing if it wasn't so sadly misinformed.

2:42:00 PM  

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