“The people that got us here have to change”

Since October 2008 I have electronically pounded my fist saying that for the “recession” to be truly over required three important things.  One of those things of import was that “the people that got us here have to change.”

Since October 21, 2004, when I had a life-changing epiphany, I have known that Wall Street was institutionally corrupt.  Yes there are always corrupt individuals within any society.  But corruption that is institutionalized is a cultural cancer.  The stark way in which I saw this led to my retirement from a successful Wall Street career.  Not because I was corrupt, but because the corrupt structures of Wall Street were speeding toward a recession, and maybe even a depression.

I think I got my first whiff of Wall Street corruption back in 1993 with my first job out of college as a stock broker.  The firm I worked for was corrupt.  My next big whiff came in 1999 when I was working as a research analyst at Davis Selected Advisers and the dot.com bubble was in full swing.  The air around all of that free-flowing capital reeked of excess.  Then the bubble burst and I hoped that some of what I saw on a weekly basis would change, or at least, subside.  But it didn’t.

For capitalism to become an institution of plenty, and not of deep, unfulfilled desires again, then the people that got us here have to go.  So imagine the gasp I let out when I saw this late Friday night’s Wall Street Journal headline: “U.S. in Vast Insider Trading Probe.”

The gist of the story is that the U.S. Federal Government has concluded a three-year investigation of consultants, investment bankers, hedge-fund and mutual-fund traders, and analysts.  It is expected that criminal charges will be brought against many, many people.  This is because the investigation has purportedly uncovered many insider-trading rings.  Shocking!  I am so shocked!  Not really.  Unfortunately.

Investigators have come from many different sources in a collaborative effort and have included: Federal prosecutors, the FBI, and the SEC.

Many of the details remain unexpressed.  However, as a member of the general public now, I can warn you: prepare to be disgusted.  Hopefully those that are truly guilty are exposed, shamed and rightfully punished for ruining the lives of so many other human beings.

I will continue to follow this story very closely.

Jason