"Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street. Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags."
-1890 speech by Populist leader Mary Ellen Lease, thought to be the prototype for Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz
Consider these arresting facts:
- The Bank for International Settlements estimates that in 2008, annual trading in over-the-counter derivatives amounted to $743 trillion globally - more than ten times the gross domestic product of all the nations of the world combined.
- Just five super-rich Wall Street banks control 97% of the U.S. derivatives market: JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.
- Wall Street traders compete to design computer programs that can move many trades in microseconds, allowing them to beat ordinary investors to the "buy" button and to manipulate markets for private gain.
- Goldman Sachs, the uncontested leader in this game, was reported in September to be sitting on a cool $167 billion in cash. Meanwhile, a September survey of state finances found that state governments faced a collective budget shortfall for fiscal 2010 of $168 billion - nearly the same amount.
- In 2008, Goldman Sachs paid a paltry 1% in income taxes - less than clerks at WalMart.
Also see:
Cut Wall Street Out! How States Can Finance Their Own Economic Recovery •
Wall Street bankers have been called today's "welfare queens," feeding at the public trough to the tune of trillions of dollars. They are taking from the taxpayers and not giving back. These banks were rescued so they could make loans, take deposits, and keep our money safe. But while that is what banks used to do, today the big Wall Street money comes from short-term speculation in currency transactions, commodities, stocks, and derivatives for the banks' own accounts. FULL STORY
