An Excellent Explanation of Why a Financialized Economy is Futile

[icanthearyou 4,462]

This is a great explanation of how the financialized economy only serves to concentrate wealth, not a build a better society.   It is a great explanation of how the financialized economy distorts the concepts of price and value.

 

[AU9377 4,910]

This was a good thought provoking Ted Talk.  The problem is one that is intertwined with many different societal factors.  We have become very top heavy in our economic structure.  Part of that is the result of being the victim of our own successes.  It is also undeniable that an over abundance of greed can often be a byproduct of unregulated capitalism.  The financial sector's purposeful engineering of their own invincibility by ensuring that they are, in fact, too big to fail is also worth discussing.

[icanthearyou 4,462]

5 hours ago, AU9377 said:

The financial sector's purposeful engineering of their own invincibility by ensuring that they are, in fact, too big to fail is also worth discussing.

I would say that is a sure indication that they essentially are the government.  It is the ultimate power. 

[AU9377 4,910]

17 hours ago, icanthearyou said:

I would say that is a sure indication that they essentially are the government.  It is the ultimate power. 

It does give them an elevated voice.  However, that will always be the case and has always been the case in every functioning society I can recall.  It was certainly the case in ancient Rome, the British Empire, on down to present day Russia and the United States.  The form is different and the controls are much different, but wealth always denotes some degree of influence.  Revolution is usually the product of the wealthy class being either unwilling or incapable of being benevolent and providing opportunities to the labor or middle working class to adequately provide for their well being.  Wealth isn't the problem, in my opinion, but the hoarding of that wealth results in real and perceived hurdles that most are incapable of clearing.

Roosevelt needed New Deal legislation because those with wealth at the time were either unwilling or incapable of using that wealth to provide jobs and opportunities for the general population.  I don't mean to go into that rabbit hole of discussion, but it always reminds me that different economic systems around the world usually have the same overall goals.  What we have seen is that no pure system survives.