Big lie No. 5: We're bankers, and we're here to help you
Our banking sector serves as the "blood supply" for our capitalist economic system, maintains media mogul and real-estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman. And it's true: Banks take risks funding Silicon Valley startups and other businesses, making our economy one of the most innovative and vibrant in the world. Most of them do help us.
But sadly, a lot Wall Street seems to have turned this idea on its head. All those complex, repackaged mortgage-backed securities, for example, didn't raise a penny to build a single factory. And they weren't all about getting people into homes either. Some of the instruments they were trading were little more than wagers on whether someone else's mortgage would ever be paid.
So when you now hear bankers and their lobbyists roll out the old blood-supply excuse to resist tougher regulation, don't buy it.
If better regulation removes the pure gambling and makes our financial system safer, we're all better off -- even if it means the bankers earn a little less.
But sadly, a lot Wall Street seems to have turned this idea on its head. All those complex, repackaged mortgage-backed securities, for example, didn't raise a penny to build a single factory. And they weren't all about getting people into homes either. Some of the instruments they were trading were little more than wagers on whether someone else's mortgage would ever be paid.
So when you now hear bankers and their lobbyists roll out the old blood-supply excuse to resist tougher regulation, don't buy it.
If better regulation removes the pure gambling and makes our financial system safer, we're all better off -- even if it means the bankers earn a little less.
