Trickle-Down Economics, Wall Street-Style
Floyd Norris, one of my favorite financial writers, ran a post earlier this week noting a recent London jewelry store burglary where the average bauble cost $1.5 million.
That prompted this observation, “It will be hard for stores like this to stay in business if governments refuse to support bankers in the style to which they have become accustomed.”
In response, I posted this comment:
I used to think that obscene Wall Street pay would finally be stopped when shareholders stood up and said “no more.”
Then I thought it would be stopped once Wall Street had effectively emptied the government’s coffers.
Now I think it will stop only when the government’s coffers have been emptied, its debt is maxed out, and no creditor countries will lend it any more.
How far away is that point?
Do we really want to find out?
–Ross Kaplan, Comment on “Save This Store“; Floyd Norris, The NY Times (8/12/09)
The beauty of the Internet is that there’s always a “last, last word,” after the previous “last word.”
Here’s mine:
I’m starting to think that Wall Street VIP’s will be obscenely paid until the last sun in the last solar system flames out.
