2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWall Street’s Message to Young Adults: “You are Clueless”
William K. Black
February 21, 2016 Bloomington, MN
Wall Street CEOs are very upset with young adults. They believe you are clueless and voting against [your] own interests when you support Bernie Sanders. A Wall Street CEO took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to decry the fact that Millennials are flocking to Sanders. It would be cruel to note that one has to be clueless to believe that writing an op ed in the WSJ was a good way to reach millennials supporting Bernie. But at least we can gain an insight into Wall Streets theory of why Bernie is bad for young adults. It turns out that Wall Street is worried that Bernie is pushing Hillary Clinton to take inequality seriously because younger Americans take inequality seriously. Wall Street, of course, loves and exists to produce staggering inequality.
These young voters appear to be falling headlong for the Vermont senators plaintive narrative of economic unfairness. His throwaway prescriptions for redistributing income and wealth are being echoed by an increasingly nervous Mrs. Clintondespite such policies having been jettisoned during her husbands administration in the 1990s.
Notice the devastating nature of the Wall Street critique Bernies discussion of inequality is plaintive (which means sad and mournful). Human beings are sad about the severe inequality in America and have concluded that the Clintons New Democrat policies were a major part of the problem. Given what has happened to middle and working class Americans incomes under the neoliberal economic agendas of the Clintons and Bushes, the reaction of those supporting Bernie means that they are voting in favor of their economic interests. The Wall Street CEO inadvertently admits this fact, and comes to his real complaint the public is furious that Wall Street elites made a fortune by leading the three most destructive financial fraud epidemics in history and did so with impunity. How dare the American people no longer worship Wall Street?
Both Democrats and some Republicans keep blaming it all on Wall Street (Bernie Sanderss all-purpose boogeyman) for getting away with murder (Donald Trump on hedge funds). Dont they realize that the financial markets are the lubricant of the entire economythat Wall Streets capacity to provide liquidity and to broker capital is the lifeblood of American companies? History will probably judge the misguided post-crisis regulations like Dodd-Frank and retribution against Wall Street to have sown the seeds of the next financial crisis. For now, the vilification of Wall Street in the presidential campaign is irresponsible.
No, we dont realize that Wall Street is the lifeblood of America. We do agree that lubricant comes closer greasing politicians hands certainly is part of the problem. Wall Street is vastly too large and it primarily moves capital to uneconomic uses because it is led by frauds and functions largely as a parasite. Wall Street shrinks the pie (the overall size of the economy) and takes an astonishingly large share of that diminished pie. The author complains that governments lack the incentives and resources to effectively allocate and manage capital in the microeconomy. He apparently was out of town when Wall Street did exactly the same thing for exactly the same reasons Wall Streets executive compensation schemes create perverse incentives that Wall Street spreads throughout Main Street.
The Wall Street CEO admitted that his goal is to eliminate the already critically weak Dodd-Frank Act and return to an era when there was only a pretense of financial regulation. What retributions against Wall Street not a single leader of the three epidemics has been prosecuted. We agree that this destruction of the rule of law on Wall Street has sown the seeds of the next financial crisis. Wall Street is not being vilified its elites have acted as villains. The business model of far too much of Wall Street is fraud. The author is so desperate that he claims that Bernie wants to recreate the Soviet Union in the United States. Unsurprisingly, the author, who co-founded an astro-turf operation in DC purportedly dedicated to bi-partisan approaches ends with a partisan plea in favor of Republican candidates.
in full: http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2016/02/wall-streets-message-young-adults-clueless.html
angrychair
(8,864 posts)HRC supporters, this is the fight worth having and Sanders is uniquely positioned to take that fight to them.
ladjf
(17,320 posts)that they are "clueless". They sure as hell aren't clueless that you bastards are ripping them off and that the main thing they need to know. Once they are fully aware of what you are doing to them, they will amaze you with their energy and perseverance.
(As a educator, I have worked for many years with thousands of college age Americans. I can guarantee you, they are among the most capable people on the Planet. You don't want them as enemies. Trust me.)
I consider the support Bernie is getting from young people to be the number one positive aspect of the "Revolution". These young people might not pull it off this year. But, as the graduate and continue to "feel the Bern", new student will add to their number. Their message will be further clarified. My prediction: Wall Street, they will make you pay.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)to the heart of who is aware of what WS has done and why Bernie's supporters are not
going away..even if he loses. Thank you very much.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(116,576 posts)is a capitalist's capitalist. He's also a co-founder of the obnoxiously centrist "No Labels" organization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._Arbess
QED.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)fredamae
(4,458 posts)Not only do these kids Grandparents support Bernie - but so do their parents.
These kids are awake, aware and Angry. I'm with them.
Stupid assed idea from wall street if you ask me-May this bs bite them in their collective ass.
KansDem
(28,498 posts)Oh, and the bonuses, too?
la dolce vita
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)positioned to take them on.
KansDem
(28,498 posts)Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)pissing off their new clients,biting the hand that will feed them down the road.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)That worked so well when drafting and passing Frank-Dodd.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)our Nation is in deep trouble with the huge income divide. All the yammering coming from those haves against the have not's will and is having a long term effect on our Nations economic viability.