Why Does Wall Street Always Win? The Baseline Scenario – Simon Johnson

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Simon Johnson reviews the new book The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins, by Jeff Connaughton.

…The system is rotten, to be sure, but this president came to office promising change – and that is exactly what we did not get on most crucial dimensions related to the financial sector. The failure depicted on this front is political and ultimately about money – and all the power that Wall Street can buy, one way or another…

…The Justice Department declines to prosecute financial fraud, the S.E.C. fails to protect average investors, and the Senate refuses to stand up to the Treasury and Federal Reserve technocrats aiming to keep too-big-to-fail in place.

Wall Street is manifestly too powerful and showers too much money on former and future public servants in Washington. Our political system could not respond meaningfully even to a devastating financial crisis that brought the country to its knees. While this book is about the past, the implications for the future are clear.

The apathy on the part of public officials during this administration is pervasive and frequently appalling. As Mr. Connaughton puts it,

“For me, what is deplorable is not the Justice Department’s failure to bring charges, but its failure to be adequately dedicated and organized either to make the cases or reach a fully informed judgment that no case could be made.”

This post is excerpted from a post at The Baseline Scenario. View original post.