Monday, April 14, 2014

The Financial Sector is a Parasite?

   (Commentary posted by Roger Erickson)



Ben Strubel, Investment Manager, Speaks.

Teaser headings:
The Role of the Financial Sector
The Grift in Your Retirement Plan
Institutions and the Rich Have the Same Problem
Speculation in Commodities Costs Main Street Billions
Corruption of Public Infrastructure
Interest Rate Manipulation
Foods Stamps and Welfare
If those topics don't get more citizens up in arms .... what will?

Ben's summary: 
"A bloated and out-of-control financial sector does not add any value to society. Society benefits when the financial sector is kept as small as possible."
No argument here.



3 comments:

Ralph Musgrave said...

According to the recently retired governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, the banking industry in the UK is now TEN TIMES as large relative to GDP as compared to the 1960s. See p.23 here:

http://www.bis.org/review/r101028a.pdf

Roger Erickson said...

So UK citizens must be 10x better off, with the nation enjoying 10x more options, right, Ralph?

Since High St. bankers are also presumably "doing God's work."

The Rombach Report said...

Goldman Sachs didn't get the nick name, blood sucking giant vampire squid for nothing.