No Change on Wall Street

Is it really so surprising to find very little has changed on Wall Street as this New York Times report appears to have wondered? The article is here.

Financial capital likes high rates of return and speed. It likes to move like a supersonic cruise missile honed to hit a target and then it wants to move on to the next.

Those who consistently hit targets achieving high rates of returns over time feel they are different from you and me. They think they are smarter and would always have a higher betting average.

To maintain high betting averages which translate into multi-million dollar bonuses and stock options, Wall Street bankers would not consider fixing the game in their favor entirely beneath them especially when regulatory institutions such as SEC or the Fed are under-staffed or run by people who share their views about financial capital. The ease with which Wall Street has shaped the regulatory thinking in Washington did not stop with the Bush Administration leaving DC.

The financial Team Obama shares the core values of Wall Street. They are cut from the same cloth. Super rich Wall Street "wizards" are admired by those who work in the government or in universities.

Wall Street rewards "winning" at any cost. If in that process a bubble here and there is a consequence, so be it. A bull market always follows a bear market. That pattern has never changed. Read the charts.

And that's why the financial rescue package has been tilted towards favoring Wall Street firms and that's why scant regulatory measures are reinforced to make it harder for Wall Street to help create another wasteful financial bubble.

Team Obama headed by Tim Geithner and Larry Summers, both beneficiaries of past Wall Street largesse, is planting the seeds of undermining President Obama's credibility as a fair and honest arbiter of a country in trouble.