vilifying
wall street

By: Calvin Chin

Wall Street or what’s left of it remains the favorite bogey man for many spheres to pick on.  This New York Times article discusses Hollywood’s vilification of the finance industry. What caused the great financial crisis of 2008? Why is the unemployment rate high ? Because Wall Street rewards companies for not hiring and keeping costs low! Of course this is nonsense.  If you live in New York City, it would be even more expensive without the tax generating power of Wall Street.

There was a time when Wall Street beckoned the brightest and the scrappiest from America’s four corners.  Wall Street was not a means to itself. Wall Street was a place to create wealth for society to enable each generation to progress.  Wall Steet created securities and mechanisms to help people seek and fulfill their dreams.  We all have benefited from them -schools, hospitals, cultural institutions, sports stadiums, and private corporations such as Starbucks.  We need to look in the mirror and realize that fear and greed drive Wall Street just like other sectors but because lots of money is involved, Wall Street gets oversized sexiness and blame.