4 Secretive Ways Wall Street Extorts You

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http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/4-secretive-ways-wall-street-extorts-you




In January, Richard W. Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said that Wall Street banks, "... as a result of their privileged status, exact an unfair tax upon the American people."

If a president of a regional Federal Reserve bank (hardly a socialist), is telling us that Wall Street is not only privileged, but using its privileges to "tax" the hell out of us, it might be wise to take a closer look. While he's not literally talking about a tax, he's talking about a kind of extortion -- a virtual tax that ends up in the pockets of our Wall Street barons.

While our political elites warn us about becoming the next Greece (do we get the tasty retsina, good weather and nice beaches too?), the real "tax and spend" game is taking place on Wall Street, hidden from view. In fact, Wall Street is essentially exerting a hidden tax on us day in and day out -- but we don't even notice or get anything back in return.

Before describing how Wall Street does it, let's try to wrap our minds around how big our biggest banks really are. In 1970, the top five U.S. banks owned 17 percent of all U.S. banking assets. By 2010, well after the crash, the top five banks owned 52 percent of all our banking assets.