Sep. 25, 2008 - A crisis twenty years in the making

Wall Street revisited

Honestly, I do not fully understand all that the current Wall Street meltdown/crisis entails.   But, what I do know and understand is that greed is clearly at the center.  Not just greed on the part of Wall Street bankers, corporations, politicians, but greed on the part of some mortgage brokers who pushed through unqualified borrowers, borrowers who knew they could not afford the homes being purchased and, yes, some lousy real estate agents hungry for another fat commission check.

Greed has been a cornerstone of a rabid culture that permeated American business and politics for more than twenty years.  Golden parachutes became a standard for senior managements that ensured their personal wealth whether or not companies performed well or even survived. It was "justified", in part, as a trickle down theory that said the wealth would well; trickle down from the top to the bottom.  Fictional character, Gordon Gekko, told the world in the movie Wall Street, "Greed is good." Greed is never “good” and is seen throughout the world as one of the seven deadly sins. Sadly, some of us believed him.

Watch Scene from "Wall Street"

Oct. 4, 2008 - RE: A crisis twenty years in the making