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"Every large Wall Street brokerage house was "
Ah, Rick. So we come to the real economics problem:
PTBarnum and the Rubes.
Everyone knows that Wall Street is just a con game, last time I heard 94% of the players had to lose in order for the remaining 6% to make a fortune. Or maybe that was 96% and 4%, all the same to me. And, everyone involved also knows that the only folks who make money EVERY time, are the brokers. Stock brokers, gold brokers, commodity brokers...taking their percents on every deal, they are the only sure winners.
So essentially we have government sanctioned gambling, versus mob bookmaking, as the driving force behind the economy. And then we wonder why the economy is driving off the road?
Come on, if the government wanted a solid economy, the first thing they would have to do is legalize drugs--which even Norman Friedman said every economist knows is the only logical answer, and would restore billions of money out of crime into legitimate channels. The second thing the Fed would have to do, is make "financial gambling" aka the stock and commodity markets, illegal. Or so severely restricted, that the only way you could buy or sell stock was straight out, buying an investment in a company's future based on strict accountings of a real worth--not speculations.
Look at the peaks in oil prices: They weren't caused by OPEC price rises, they were boosted sky high time and again by speculation on the futures markets.
Ain't gonna happen. The mob won't allow drugs to be legalized, even if Congress gets attacked by common sense. And The Money in this country won't allow Wall Street to be shut down, because they ARE the brokerage houses and brokers, and they don't give a damn if they can only get rich by sucking the blood out of the other 95%. That's the way life is played, by and large.
Hurt by the market crash? Don't be angry, it just means we were too stupid to play on the winning side, with the scoundrels and thieves.
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