Does America Need Wall Street?

[Rocko]

When people say "wall st." they mean the major banks. Without our banks, you have no savings, no loans, so of-course we need wall st.. Banks are the economic engine for our nations small business, big businesses, and private citizens.

People can bitch all they want about TARP, but most banks paid the money back, with interest. This country will never get the money back from porkulos, so which is worse??

The culprits in the market are the high frequency traders skimming pennies on the dollar from every investor. Regulate that aspect of trading, and tighten rules on leverage.

How would you alter the behavior of private credit ratings agencies?

"And, judging by the findings of a Senate investigative committee and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Wall Street has bought favorable credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

"Its practices have driven speculation through the roof in every decade since the 1980s, always ending with a crash."

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

the credit ratings agencies suck, but I don't know if legislation is going to make them better at their job, and i certainly don't want to government more responsibility. i don't know.

 

[editec]

When people say "wall st." they mean the major banks. Without our banks, you have no savings, no loans, so of-course we need wall st.. Banks are the economic engine for our nations small business, big businesses, and private citizens.

People can bitch all they want about TARP, but most banks paid the money back, with interest. This country will never get the money back from porkulos, so which is worse??

The culprits in the market are the high frequency traders skimming pennies on the dollar from every investor. Regulate that aspect of trading, and tighten rules on leverage.

How would you alter the behavior of private credit ratings agencies?

"And, judging by the findings of a Senate investigative committee and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Wall Street has bought favorable credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

"Its practices have driven speculation through the roof in every decade since the 1980s, always ending with a crash."

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

the credit ratings agencies suck, but I don't know if legislation is going to make them better at their job, and i certainly don't want to government more responsibility. i don't know.

I'm not a all convinced that the credit rating agencies CAN do a better job.

I suspect that as the economy changes (and especially when it changes to extremes or goodness or badness) that their ECONOMETRIC MODELS they use mislead them.

NOBODY expects the BLACK SWAN

 

[Full-Auto]

From the Washington Post:

"The warm glow that Wall Street once seemed to have hid how much bad investment it made in the past 40 years.

"From the Federal Reserve bailout of bankers for bad South American loans made in the 1970sto the 1980s savings and loan crisis, from the 1990s East Asian financial crash to the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the 2008 collapse of the housing and financial markets, Wall Street has been largely responsible for nearly every financial calamity — and yet has still profited off the next boom.

"So do we need Wall Street?
"Could there be a smarter way to pick and fund a handful of winning companies?"

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

Wall street or government?

 

[georgephillip]

When people say "wall st." they mean the major banks. Without our banks, you have no savings, no loans, so of-course we need wall st.. Banks are the economic engine for our nations small business, big businesses, and private citizens.

People can bitch all they want about TARP, but most banks paid the money back, with interest. This country will never get the money back from porkulos, so which is worse??

The culprits in the market are the high frequency traders skimming pennies on the dollar from every investor. Regulate that aspect of trading, and tighten rules on leverage.

How would you alter the behavior of private credit ratings agencies?

"And, judging by the findings of a Senate investigative committee and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Wall Street has bought favorable credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

"Its practices have driven speculation through the roof in every decade since the 1980s, always ending with a crash."

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

the credit ratings agencies suck, but I don't know if legislation is going to make them better at their job, and i certainly don't want to government more responsibility. i don't know.

Nor do I.

I'm pretty sure any additional government involvement, if its directed by Republicans AND/OR Democrats, will only make matters worse.

 

[Katzndogz]

I'd like to see it! It would probably only last a short time, but I would like to see Wall Street close up shop and drive the engine of someone else's economy, like China.

Abandon the buildings to the occupiers and rats. Fire all the employees and leave the country. Turn the whole area into an urban jungle right out of Escape from New York. There would be some kind of poetic justice in seeing the shitters descend into eat or be eaten.

 

[Katzndogz]

There is nothing particularly sinister or even interesting in American Express not marketing to people who woudn't use their services. The makers of Jheri Curls doesn't poll white people to ask what they want in new products.

 

[georgephillip]

How would you alter the behavior of private credit ratings agencies?

"And, judging by the findings of a Senate investigative committee and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Wall Street has bought favorable credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

"Its practices have driven speculation through the roof in every decade since the 1980s, always ending with a crash."

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

the credit ratings agencies suck, but I don't know if legislation is going to make them better at their job, and i certainly don't want to government more responsibility. i don't know.

I'm not a all convinced that the credit rating agencies CAN do a better job.

I suspect that as the economy changes (and especially when it changes to extremes or goodness or badness) that their ECONOMETRIC MODELS they use mislead them.

NOBODY expects the BLACK SWAN

Wall Street banks seem to buy whatever credit rating they desire from Standard and Poors and Moodys.

Speaking of (somewhat unrelated) Black Swans:

Border War Rumors | Truthout

Another "choice" between Wall Street's Black Sock Puppet and Money Mitt?

 

[Chris]

Why would anyone keep their money in a bank, when you can go to a credit union and get a much better deal?

 

[Chris]

We need to bring back Glass-Steagal.

It worked well for 70 years.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The real question is: do we need Liberals (aka: Progressives, Marxists, neo-Fascists, Socialists, Democrats)?

At least as much as all those free-market conservatives who claim to respect transparent competition and fair compensation. Conservatives like Alan Greenspan and Hank Paulson and Phil Gramm.

Remember them?

I'm against FDIC insurance, Sparky

 

[georgephillip]

From the Washington Post:

"The warm glow that Wall Street once seemed to have hid how much bad investment it made in the past 40 years.

"From the Federal Reserve bailout of bankers for bad South American loans made in the 1970sto the 1980s savings and loan crisis, from the 1990s East Asian financial crash to the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the 2008 collapse of the housing and financial markets, Wall Street has been largely responsible for nearly every financial calamity — and yet has still profited off the next boom.

"So do we need Wall Street?
"Could there be a smarter way to pick and fund a handful of winning companies?"

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

Wall street or government?

Does America need Republicans AND Democrats?
FLUSH the DC toilet in 2012!

 

[FireFly]

We need to regulate or eliminate "Dark Pools". They were the real culprits behind the recent "Flash Crash". Also being "Front Run" by their "High Frequency Trading" computers destroys the integrity of the system. We can't have price discovery with this crap going on.

 

[georgephillip]

I'd like to see it! It would probably only last a short time, but I would like to see Wall Street close up shop and drive the engine of someone else's economy, like China.

Abandon the buildings to the occupiers and rats. Fire all the employees and leave the country. Turn the whole area into an urban jungle right out of Escape from New York. There would be some kind of poetic justice in seeing the shitters descend into eat or be eaten.

Many Wall Street bankers would have been executed by China's government in 2008.
Hundreds of years ago financial speculation was punished by death in Europe.
Maybe reinstalling Glass-Steagall would be a good compromise.

 

[Full-Auto]

From the Washington Post:

"The warm glow that Wall Street once seemed to have hid how much bad investment it made in the past 40 years.

"From the Federal Reserve bailout of bankers for bad South American loans made in the 1970sto the 1980s savings and loan crisis, from the 1990s East Asian financial crash to the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the 2008 collapse of the housing and financial markets, Wall Street has been largely responsible for nearly every financial calamity — and yet has still profited off the next boom.

"So do we need Wall Street?
"Could there be a smarter way to pick and fund a handful of winning companies?"

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

Wall street or government?

Does America need Republicans AND Democrats?
FLUSH the DC toilet in 2012!

Just keep the tea party folks

 

[Chris]

I'd like to see it! It would probably only last a short time, but I would like to see Wall Street close up shop and drive the engine of someone else's economy, like China.

Abandon the buildings to the occupiers and rats. Fire all the employees and leave the country. Turn the whole area into an urban jungle right out of Escape from New York. There would be some kind of poetic justice in seeing the shitters descend into eat or be eaten.

Many Wall Street bankers would have been executed by China's government in 2008.
Hundreds of years ago financial speculation was punished by death in Europe.
Maybe reinstalling Glass-Steagall would be a good compromise.

It wasn't speculation, it was a Ponzi scheme.

And yes, Glass-Stegall should be brought back. It worked well for 70 years.

 

[Intense]

From the Washington Post:

"The warm glow that Wall Street once seemed to have hid how much bad investment it made in the past 40 years.

"From the Federal Reserve bailout of bankers for bad South American loans made in the 1970sto the 1980s savings and loan crisis, from the 1990s East Asian financial crash to the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the 2008 collapse of the housing and financial markets, Wall Street has been largely responsible for nearly every financial calamity — and yet has still profited off the next boom.

"So do we need Wall Street?
"Could there be a smarter way to pick and fund a handful of winning companies?"

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

Does America need the Federal Reserve? Is there a Law against it being Transparent?

 

[georgephillip]

We need to bring back Glass-Steagal.

It worked well for 70 years.

Michael Moore and 40+ OWS activists agree with you.
They came up with a list of Ten Things We Want:

"Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, placing serious regulations on how business is conducted by Wall Street and the banks.

"Investigate the Crash of 2008, and bring to justice those who committed any crimes."

They also had this demand regarding FICA taxes.
I'm not sure if their numbers are accurate...

"Require that all Americans pay the same Social Security tax on all of their earnings (normally, the middle class pays about 6% of their income to Social Security; someone making $1 million a year pays about 0.6% (or 90% less than the average person). This law would simply make the rich pay what everyone else pays."

OWS has kicked off a national discussion about income inequality during the last ten weeks.
Where does it go from here?

Don't Sit This One Out - What's Your Vision for Occupy Wall Street? | Truthout

 

[georgephillip]

From the Washington Post:

"The warm glow that Wall Street once seemed to have hid how much bad investment it made in the past 40 years.

"From the Federal Reserve bailout of bankers for bad South American loans made in the 1970sto the 1980s savings and loan crisis, from the 1990s East Asian financial crash to the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the 2008 collapse of the housing and financial markets, Wall Street has been largely responsible for nearly every financial calamity — and yet has still profited off the next boom.

"So do we need Wall Street?
"Could there be a smarter way to pick and fund a handful of winning companies?"

Does America need Wall Street? - The Washington Post

Does America need the Federal Reserve? Is there a Law against it being Transparent?

Bernie Sanders and Ron Paul have the same questions.
I don't think most elected Republicans AND Democrats want to know the answers.

"The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

"An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. 'As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world,' said Sanders.

"'This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else.'"

The Fed Audit - Newsroom: Bernie Sanders - U.S. Senator for Vermont

I don't think the 1% would tolerate any real Federal Reserve transparency.
Maybe that will be their fatal mistake?

 

[Katzndogz]

OWS has not kicked off a national discussion on income inequality. It's kicked off a discussion among themselves but everyone else is ignoring them.

 

[georgephillip]

We need to regulate or eliminate "Dark Pools". They were the real culprits behind the recent "Flash Crash". Also being "Front Run" by their "High Frequency Trading" computers destroys the integrity of the system. We can't have price discovery with this crap going on.

"In finance, dark pools of liquidity also referred to as dark liquidity or simply dark pools is trading volume or liquidity that is not openly available to the public[1].

"The bulk of these represent large trades by financial institutions that are offered away from public exchanges so that trades are anonymous.

"The fragmentation of financial trading venues and electronic trading has allowed dark pools to be created, and they are normally accessed through crossing networks or directly between market participants."

They don't sound particularly democratic.
If they were, they would not be useful to the 1%.

Dark liquidity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia