Retail sales down. JPMorgan profits up. Wall Street pay up. Hmmmm

It seems to me that Wall Street has become more and more at odds with America as a whole. Heads they win, tails we lose?

Here's my prediction: Unless Wall Street can clearly and directly demonstrate how it benefits mainstream America, it will be under direct government control in 50 years.

Wall Street's position is that it has reduced risk and improved financial prospects for the average American. Clearly the former has been proven wrong, and the latter flies in the face of the lack of real income growth for the vast majority.

I don't see such a demonstration happening. Wall Street simply is not that sophisticated.

Main Street, the silent majority will only accept this for so long.

$22 Billion for Goldman employees this year, made on the back of a broken financial system tells me something is wrong.

If I remember correctly, the last severe recessions, Banks and big Oil made record profits, while people struggled to pay these maggots.

This world is more than Wall Street. Maybe it needs a little forced downsizing?

And this would be just one explanation of why a totally free market economy will never work. Because there is always the few that will screw over the many in any way they possibly can. I'm not advocating for communism, I'm advocating for laws to stop this from going to extremes.

"This is a businessperson writing. And tens of millions—maybe hundreds of millions—of other Americans must also feel like this."

I wish they did. Unfortunately, dreams of past glories are the opiate of the people.

"This is a businessperson writing."

Well, no duh. What I have been trying to explain to you for over a year is that the senior management layer in the Fortune 500 (just below the executive, we give ourself raises crowd) is almost universally aware that something is seriously broken.

By the way, are these gavorite links really your choices? Greg Mankiw over Krugman?

Sad.

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