The Wall Street That Even Gordon Gecko Doesn't Understand

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Thursday March 03, 2011 · 7:45 AM PST

2011/03/03 · 07:45

How was Wall Street able to bring the entire economic world order to its knees, hold a gun to its head, and demand a ransom from taxpayers 'or else'?

What is finance? What does the word mean to a quant in a Wall Street firm? Not the same thing as it means to you, probably, unless you happen to know what Wall Street actually does.

This is the inaugural post of the 'Finance' group. The aim of this group is to lift the hood and shine a light onto the engine of Wall Street. What makes it go? Does it provide something useful? If so, what? And how does it do it?

Why might people with a political bent be interested in this? For the same reason we are interested in tax structure, or public campaign finance, or education. Regardless of your feelings on the matter, financial services is the driver of the our economy right now and, as we have learned, it is capable of great harm. Something this important to the future of the country should be as widely understood as possible.

So unless you are a republican, you have a desire to learn and understand and build public policy that benefits the public. You can only do that when you understand what you wish to control. Let's explore the world of high finance. Let's get our hands dirty and wipe them on our overalls. But (and there's always a but) this is not a group for ranters. This is a group for seekers and teachers. If you are a seeker or teacher, join us.

Poll

23 votes Show Results

How interested are you?

23 votes Vote Now!

How interested are you?

Extremely

18 votes

Somewhat

5 votes

I'm gone once you tell me what BSD means.

0 votes

Can you repeat the question? Sorry, I feel asleep.

0 votes

Pie, if you don't mind.

0 votes

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