Stephen Chang's Blog

Economic Independence

Mr. John Galt I presume?

“We’re in a hypercapitalistic society. No one complains when Julia Roberts pulls down $25 million per movie or A-Rod has a $300 million guarantee. We have ex-presidents who cash in on their presidencies. Our whole moral compass has shifted about what’s acceptable or not acceptable. Honestly, you can pick on Wall Street all you want, I don’t think it’s fair. It’s fair to say you ran your companies into the ground, your risk management is flawed—that is perfectly legitimate. You can lay criticism on GM or others. But I don’t think it’s fair to say Wall Street is paid too much.” – anonymous former Bear Stearns employee.

Anger grows on Wall Street, over what a fair wage is, and the sense of unfair persecution. As Washington ponders what what regulations to put on Wall Street, it will have to consider numbers larger than the human brain was designed to think about– numbers in the millions, billions, and trillions. Math and moral outrage (though the larger moral out rage of the general public instead of the smaller moral outrage of Wall Street) are always a great source of poor legislation.