Critics of the Occupy Wall Street movement have complained that the protestors have no clear goals, so
WE DON'T MAKE DEMANDS composed a list of 12 concrete, specific suggestions focusing on economic reform, stronger regulation, and closing loopholes.
posted by The Whelk
on Nov 30, 2011 -
193 comments
Occupy Wall Street is an event comprised of anti-corporate non-violent protests that are being promoted by a range of groups including the AdbustersMedia Foundation and a New York City group called General Assembly. Months ago
a plea was put out to diverse political and activist groups urging them to descend on Wall Street on September 17th and take part in long-term occupation of the area in the spirit of the
Arab Spring rebellions.
[more inside]
posted by stagewhisper
on Sep 20, 2011 -
251 comments
On July 23, 1920,
Charles Ponzi hired former Boston Post journalist William H. McMasters as his publicist, who quickly realized that his new client was defrauding the public. Just ten days later, McMasters wrote an exposé published in the Post that led to Ponzi's ultimate downfall. The newspaper won a Pulitzer. McMasters was
The Man Who Time (Almost) Forgot (Via) [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Aug 10, 2011 -
11 comments
In
an investment manager's view on the top 1% - referring to the richest Americans by wealth and income - we learn that one needs $1.2 million in net worth to barely slip in the door of the top 1%. But that's just a start: the real power and influence in the U.S., the author argues, resides in the top 0.1%. You can guess who you'll find there: bankers and large-cap CEOs. Relevant quotes include...
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posted by mark7570
on Aug 4, 2011 -
115 comments
In his Oscar acceptance speech, documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson reminded viewers worldwide that "not a single financial executive has gone to jail" for the fraud that created the 2008 financial meltdown. His film Inside Job (on Netflix
DVD) explains, among other things, that the crisis was avoidable. See also the
Inside Job trailer and a subsequent
followup video in which Ferguson says that many sources "mysteriously backed out" before being filmed. He also
spoke at MIT in January.
posted by mark7570
on Mar 2, 2011 -
55 comments
Over drinks at a bar on a dreary, snowy night in Washington this past month, a former Senate investigator laughed as he polished off his beer.
"Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail," he said. "That's your whole story right there. Hell, you don't even have to write the rest of it. Just write that."
I put down my notebook. "Just that?"
"That's right," he said, signaling to the waitress for the check. "Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail. You can end the piece right there."
posted by vidur
on Feb 16, 2011 -
126 comments
What Good is Wall Street? Think of all the profits produced by businesses operating in the U.S. as a cake. Twenty-five years ago, the slice taken by financial firms was about a seventh of the whole. Last year, it was more than a quarter. (In 2006, at the peak of the boom, it was about a third.) In other words, during a period in which American companies have created iPhones, Home Depot, and Lipitor, the best place to work has been in an industry that doesn’t design, build, or sell a single tangible thing.
posted by shivohum
on Nov 22, 2010 -
102 comments
"The first thing that needs to happen, I think, is to get these people out of their homes," a man wearing a bespoke blue-striped shirt, a Hermés tie patterned with elephants and Ferragamo loafers
said recently. But, maybe Wall Street doesn't understand
why foreclosure fraud is so dangerous to property rights? And, the Obama administration doesn't understand why
HAMP has been a
portrait in failure for homeowners (in eight parts
I,
II,
III,
IV,
V,
VI,
VII,
VIII.)
posted by ennui.bz
on Oct 15, 2010 -
107 comments
Maybe Microsoft is trading in London at a penny less than it's trading at the same moment in New York. A high-frequency trader will buy shares in London and wait for them to rise. Since the discrepancy lasts a mere fraction of a second, speed is key. [Tradework CEO] M. Narang boasts it takes only 15 millionth of a second for his computers to place a buy or sell order after detecting an opportunity. Or, as he puts it, "If you try to pick up the penny, we'll probably beat you to it." [more inside]
posted by HP LaserJet P10006
on May 15, 2010 -
62 comments
Six Simple Ways to Fix Wall Street. "Elements of our Six Simple Steps are in the pending legislation. If they're part of what's adopted, we may get true and lasting reform. If they're not, it won't be long before Wall Street is back to business -- and bailouts -- as usual."
posted by storybored
on May 14, 2010 -
43 comments
"When a company or individual receives a surprise subpoena on a Friday from the SEC, it is usually designed to ruin their weekend plans. Yes, the SEC can get personal in its own way...Back in the day as the criminal CFO of
Crazy Eddie, I received a surprise subpoena from the SEC late Friday afternoon. I had to wait until Monday before my attorneys had time to advise me on a course of action." Ex-white collar felon
Sam Antar blogs about the SEC's recent move.
[more inside]
posted by inkyroom
on Apr 20, 2010 -
50 comments
"Although the word “entitlement” fits, it’s been used so frequently as to have become inadequate to capture the preening self-regard, the obliviousness to the damage that high-flying finance has inflicted on the real economy, the learned blindness to vital considerations in the pay equation. Getting an education, or even hard work, does not guarantee outcomes. One of the basic precepts of finance is that of a risk-return tradeoff: high potential payoff investments come with greater downside.
But how did that evolve into the current belief system among the incumbents, that Wall Street was a sure ride, a guaranteed “heads I win, tails you lose” bet?"
Yves Smith
writes an essay on 'indefensible men.'
posted by ennui.bz
on Mar 19, 2010 -
38 comments
A lot of people figure things out, but it takes a special talent or maybe personality to figure it our and do something about it.
Previously, we heard about the man who wrote the software that blew up the economy.
Now we find out whom that software was written.
[more inside]
posted by JohnnyGunn
on Mar 15, 2010 -
40 comments
Matt Taibbifilter:
Among other things, the GAO report noted that the entire OTS had only one insurance specialist on staff — and this despite the fact that it was the primary regulator for the world's largest insurer! This week's MeFi stories have generally failed to explain the reasoning that caused the recession, even though
Jon Stewart was basically on the mark. Now,
Rolling Stone's only reporter lays it all out
The Big Takeover, a typical combination of zealous snark and the overlooked, damning facts needed to clear up a ridiculously complicated story.
posted by shii
on Mar 20, 2009 -
111 comments
They are known as “quants” because they do quantitative finance. Seduced by a vision of mathematical elegance underlying some of the messiest of human activities, they apply skills they once hoped to use to untangle string theory or the nervous system to making money. "
They Tried to Outsmart Wall Street." [spoiler inside]
[more inside]
posted by dersins
on Mar 10, 2009 -
38 comments
