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In reply to the discussion: In your opinion do Wall Street and the Investment Banks serve a societal purpose? [View all]Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)56. Without investment bankers etc how many people would be able to afford homes until they
are too old to enjoy them. In the meantime of saving enough to build a home we still have to pay rent. Wall Street allows investment to come through shares and whether you like corporations or not they tend to hire lots of people, Yes it is a merry-go-round, but it allows us to live the life styles we have become accustomed.
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In your opinion do Wall Street and the Investment Banks serve a societal purpose? [View all]
el_bryanto
Mar 2015
OP
I don't know about 60 years; rather more money would have to be set aside up front
el_bryanto
Mar 2015
#8
Oh, really? Care to elaborate? It only took the USSR about 15 years to put the first man into space
KingCharlemagne
Mar 2015
#32
OK...I really have only one response to that completely absurd comparison.
A HERETIC I AM
Mar 2015
#33
Typical . . . resort to insults and invective when you can't respond to
KingCharlemagne
Mar 2015
#36
I meant only to note that the institution(s) of Wall Street and the investment banking
KingCharlemagne
Mar 2015
#57
Using the USSR as a paragon might be the greatest vindication of private capital imaginable. nt
Dreamer Tatum
Mar 2015
#64
The USSR: so efficient in its central planning that it doesn't exist anymore.
Dreamer Tatum
Mar 2015
#67
You trumpet the USSR and then accuse me of preferring wealth concentration.
Dreamer Tatum
Mar 2015
#73
It wasn't efficient in its planning. It did what we are doing now, in a slightly different way.
sabrina 1
Mar 2015
#94
Slapping my forhead or banging it against the wall is not an insult. (Edited)
A HERETIC I AM
Mar 2015
#53
The USSR managed to construct an enormous number of public works projects at the local and
KingCharlemagne
Mar 2015
#62
First of all, nowhere in this thread did I say investment banks were "absolutely necessary"
A HERETIC I AM
Mar 2015
#74
I meant only to note that there is no writ in Holy Scripture for the institutions
KingCharlemagne
Mar 2015
#58
Is the roll of wall street/investment bankers necessary to accomplish that however?
el_bryanto
Mar 2015
#11
I'm not saying as it exists now it could replace them; but it could grow to fill that roll. nt
el_bryanto
Mar 2015
#18
I hear what you are saying, but that "new" entity would essentially be an investment banker.
Hoyt
Mar 2015
#37
A place to put savings so that it can grow more than stuffing it in a mattress. (nt)
jeff47
Mar 2015
#72
If charging a fee to move money from point A to point B serves a social purpose, then I suppose.
closeupready
Mar 2015
#12
How do you feel about truckers charging a fee to move food from the fields/packaging plants
el_bryanto
Mar 2015
#14
OK - but the truckers are paid cash right? Or do you favor a cashless economy? nt
el_bryanto
Mar 2015
#24
Why are you so dismissive? I asked a follow up question and you responded with an eye roll
el_bryanto
Mar 2015
#31
Not a jibe at you, but I believe you demonstrate a lack of imagination here -
closeupready
Mar 2015
#65
Your post illustrates why (as I responded to el bryanto) I didn't want to get into this.
closeupready
Mar 2015
#52
Not really. Or, the societal purpose they serve (allocating resources) could be
KingCharlemagne
Mar 2015
#34
Sadly, many retirement plans are dependent on them. So I said "yes" but could be better served
Coventina
Mar 2015
#38
That's the key point. Our economic system and standard of living right now are dependent on them
Hoyt
Mar 2015
#48
Our "modern, complex society" sucks rotten eggs in so many ways. I'm certain we could do better.
hunter
Mar 2015
#42
of course - at least under any system that is going to be in place for the foreseeable future
Douglas Carpenter
Mar 2015
#47
Without investment bankers etc how many people would be able to afford homes until they
Thinkingabout
Mar 2015
#56
Yeah, let's make the world a million times less liquid and see how that works for you.
Dreamer Tatum
Mar 2015
#63
They existed under FDR. They just have to be controlled and taxed like he did. n/t
pampango
Mar 2015
#77
Even under communist rules, Russia had a Central bank that exists to this day.
Agnosticsherbet
Mar 2015
#80
Nods - I don't know if many people here believe they shouldn't be more tightly regulated and
el_bryanto
Mar 2015
#98
Sorry, but that is two seperate questions. Does Wall Street serve a societal purpose?
Rex
Mar 2015
#93
Business ownership puts billions of $$ into society and makes many of the things listed in
cbdo2007
Mar 2015
#96
Yes, but their reach and power have become so overgrown and distorted that
TheKentuckian
Mar 2015
#100