Wall Street and wealth addiction

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Interesting NYT piece today.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

2

<p>Couple of comments:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>In one of his books, Jerry Groopman says that no terminal patient has ever said he/she wishes he/she had spent more time at work.</p></li>
<li><p>There’s a speech in my current high school alumni magazine - sorry not online - but a senior with a couple of very painful diseases that came on only recently and which not long ago would have killed her in a few years. She talks about an article she read about the five regrets of the dying. Every one is about the emotional core of life, about being yourself and the courage to do that. Filtered through her experience, it is quite beautiful.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>Here’s another NY Times piece about how giving poor people just a little money makes them better parents:
<a href=“http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/what-happens-when-the-poor-receive-a-stipend/[/url]”>http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/what-happens-when-the-poor-receive-a-stipend/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Imagine how much these $25 million dollar bonuses could help raise up poor families.</p>

4

<p>The bonuses might be less of a problem with a more progressive tax framework in place. I think that one can plot a pretty good correlation between the historical decreases in tax rate (since, say, 1970) and, for example, increases in the (inflation-adjusted) cost of a public college education.</p>

5

<p>Saying wealth is an addiction is just plain stupid. If making giant bonuses on wall street was so easy everyone would be doing it. The reality is that many many traders can barely support themselves but are doing everything they can to make big money and it just does not happen. They lose just as much money as they make or lose even more. No one wants to read about unsuccessful traders so all we hear about are guys making millions in bonuses and pretending they contribute little to the county when in fact economy does not work without complex markets and traders trying to make money.</p>

6

<p>I enjoyed the article.
I lived in the bonus world for 25+ years. I wasn’t one of those who made millions, but my bonus was often multiple of my base salary. It was like a high that people couldn’t enough of. After a while, it wasn’t as much of one needed the money, it was more about the amount money represented one’s self worth. </p>

<p>I am in a different line of business now. This Tue I will be told about my bonus. I am happy with my current base, so I am not very worked up about my bonus day. I maybe getting some options, which would be nice since we probably will be bought out soon. I also do find myself doing more “the right thing” at work now because I am not as afraid of jeopardizing my bonus. Maybe I am just losing my edge.</p>

7

<p>“No one wants to read about unsuccessful traders so all we hear about are guys making millions in bonuses and pretending they contribute little to the county when in fact economy does not work without complex markets and traders trying to make money.”</p>

<p>The economy is based first and foremost on people who make actual goods and services that other people want to pay money for. The complex markets and trading is just piggybacking off that.</p>

8

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<p>Mostly services which includes financial services. </p>

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<p>[Services</a> | Office of the United States Trade Representative](<a href=“http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/services-investment/services]Services”>http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/services-investment/services)</p>

<p>What traders add is liquidity to keep markets moving. If all of a sudden buyers stop buying like they did in the housing market, the result is a crash. Traders are pretty much the grease that keeps markets open for investors wanting to buy and sell for the long term. People don’t understand credit spreads etc, but they actually hybrid insurance products that help portfolio managers manage the risk of their investments. Maybe they should be regulated better, but their existence is good and having people trade them makes them work appropriately.</p>

9

<p>Wall Street was fine until they started making bets on bets. Nobody should be able to bet vast amounts on something they have no real interest in other than pure speculation. That just gums up real markets.</p>