Sep 15, 2009 11:45pm
Closing Arguments: Year After Lehman Collapse, Has Anything Changed?
EmailA year ago today, the investment banking giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy — opening the door to a total economic collapse and full-blown recession. An ABC News poll this week found that 65 percent of Americans have been hurt by the meltdown. A staggering 15 million people are out of work. And now, you're hearing some of the same headlines that triggered outrage a year ago: more big bonuses and the same risky lending that got us into this mess. So tonight, we ask you: Has the culture really changed on Wall Street? Tell us what you think. You can follow "Nightline" anytime on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Nightline.
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No. The big money makers are still screwing us.
Posted by: sandy | September 16, 2009, 12:10 am 12:10 am
Unless someone is actually held accountable, they won’t change their ways. Unfortunately, none of these financial institutions was held accountable so they will continue on their merry way – to ruin the U.S. economy and many people’s lives in the meantime. Shame on the government for not holding them accountable. We citizins don’t have this ability….
Posted by: Lee Ann Lehner | September 16, 2009, 12:13 am 12:13 am
It is out of control, and seems nobody has what is takes to put a stop to it once and for all.
Posted by: BL | September 16, 2009, 12:14 am 12:14 am
No, I think it is horrible that nothing has….
Posted by: Mary | September 16, 2009, 12:33 am 12:33 am
No, the culture has not changed on Wall Street, or any of the other bail outs.
What happened to NO BONSUS? I’m sure pockets are getting filled on Wall Street. I’m sick of it, so what can one person do??
Posted by: bea | September 16, 2009, 12:35 am 12:35 am
No. The culture has not changed on Wall Street and it never will. That is why the government needs to do its job and police the shady creeps on Wall Street and force them to obey the laws or go to jail. Severe offenders (like Madoff) should get the death penalty.
Thanks to the criminal norm on Wall Street and the failed government that lets it happen, I lost over half of my life savings that I had scrimped and saved, working 80 hour weeks for over 40 years–in a highly diversified S&P index fund, which was supposed to be a way of growing my savings with moderate risk. If I did not grow them, I would never have enough to retire. Now, I know that I will never have enough to retire. I will simply join the millions of other Americans, who will need to work until they die.
Then, after Lehman collapsed and the whole world was on the verge of anarchy, I lost my job. So now I have to move over five hundred miles to get another job that pays only two-thirds of what the last one did. I have to sell my home in a depressed market and pay that outrageous Clinton capital gains tax on the sale; so I will have much less money to get into another home.
All of this because of the greedy crooks on Wall Street and the miserably failed government.
I will give some accolade to Ben Bernanke for having kept the whole world financial system from collapse. He deserves both the Nobel peace prize and the Nobel prize in economics. But, he is not a government employee; he is the Fed Chair. The government employees (particularly Nancy Peelousy, Barney Fife-Frank, and Christopher Dudd) were not supportive of Bernanke, and they regrettably delayed the economic recovery by floundering around on the stimulus package that Mr. Bernanke had asked them to produce way back in October.
Tragically, the do-nothing government has not yet moved to restore the Glass-Steagall Act, or the ability to roll all your equity forward into your next home, or other laws that were obliterated by mistakes of the Clinton Administration, These mistakes sowed the seeds for the housing bubble and the economic collapse, by which we have had our lives ruined.
Wall Street will never change. Failed government needs to watchdog them. And unfortunately, failed government shows no signs of changing either. It appears headed toward doing more of what it has done best for the last 40 years–failing.
Posted by: Proud Native American and Angry Independent Voter | September 16, 2009, 12:37 am 12:37 am
“Unfortunately, none of these financial institutions was held accountable”
Lee Ann Lehner | Sep 16, 2009 12:13:07 AM
Did you read the post at all? Lehman Brothers was allowed to die. Many of the top brass in other banks have joined the ranks of the unemployed since. It’s not enough. Republicans need to quit their vacuous ranting about socialism and get behind rational regulation of the banks before the Democrats ram through something stupid.
Posted by: jhw539 | September 16, 2009, 12:44 am 12:44 am
No. There is a culture of entitlement. Lets have more regulations and less greed. People shouldn’t be allowed to make crazy amounts of money while risk playing with other people’s monies in nefarious and devious and convoluted schemes.
Posted by: Debbie | September 16, 2009, 12:50 am 12:50 am
No! And many struggling Americans like myself are at the end of our ropes. As a widow who worked hard to go to college late in life, I’ve been screwed out of a career I thought would make life better. I’m back on the street with a worthless BA degree, no insurance due to a pre-existing condition, about to lose my home with just 3 years to pay it off – while the Big Dogs live it up on bail outs.
Posted by: Linda | September 16, 2009, 12:51 am 12:51 am
My name is Joe, and I am one of the 15 million people out of work. I don’t believe the culture on Wall Street has changed at all, because the recession hasn’t hit them like it has middle America. I feel that the ingrates of Wall Street and the ever so smart politicians who decided to bail out the poor little rich people need to get a taste of real life. I think they need to go on unemployment and try to live on what we, the unemployed, make, and donate their salaries to the unemployed middle class families. Unfortunately this still won’t change how Wall Street and the politicians protect the wealthy while the middle class and poor suffer.
Posted by: Joe Heckert | September 16, 2009, 12:52 am 12:52 am
the government that bailed out the banks to BIG to fail are allowing them to get bigger with tax payers dollars. It just appears kinda funny that bernanke a goldman sachs proteige is our fed chairman, and how goldman sachs and citi group were the ones behind the over turning of the glass-steigal act that kept banks out of wall street and was set up by our piers to not let another crash of the market like in 29. since then it has all been about greed and egos. somewhere we have lost sight of our nation and our constitution. what happened to We The People and not We The Few. It should be enough to make every american sick by the way we allow our elected officials allow big corporations to run our country enough is enough
Posted by: patrick | September 16, 2009, 12:57 am 12:57 am
How ironic is it that China, which copied our Glass-Steagall Act, still has theirs in force and strongly supported by its people, while We The People in the United States are no longer protected by Glass-Steagall from the greedy crooks on Wall Street?
Posted by: Proud Native American and Angry Independent Voter | September 16, 2009, 1:04 am 1:04 am
Too-big-to-fail is a fictitious entity not a citizen. When its founder was replaced it became a monolith of self-interest. Not-at-risk gamers entered seeking to game even democracy. They lack the intellect, courage and ability to conceive, carry and birth a business.
A change from serving personal power to serving mankind is prerequisite.
Posted by: Carolyn | September 16, 2009, 1:06 am 1:06 am
I think Wall Street has no idea how to be any different, nor is there any reason to change.
Posted by: David H. Barehand | September 16, 2009, 2:16 am 2:16 am
People at the top levels of wall street companies are there because they are entitled. They is no question of doing good or doing bad, they are entitled. Why would we even question their right to be there and to receive what they are entitled to?
The idea of changing to accept less will not even enter their minds. When and if laws are put into place to force change, their new job will be to find ways to overcome the new laws, because they are entitled. These people are not running companies. The company is incidental to their lives. Their job is to secure what they are entitled to.
I’m afraid we will need a new generation to overcome the thought system of these people. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t impose new laws. They really need something to work at for all the money they get for being entitled.
Posted by: Exhusted | September 16, 2009, 3:32 am 3:32 am
Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke arguably made the right call at the time to bail out the banks which had the desired and immediate effects the Fed wanted to keep the situation from heading to a near world-wide economic disaster. The Federal commissions that are in place to protect the interest of the investors failed to do their job at that time and seem to be unable to keep the Wall-Street investment bankers under control less than a year later.
In my opinion it is far too difficult for a person not directly involved in the investment banking world and busy trying to find a job to know or understand if they, the investment bankers are now regulation themselves. It is up to you, Dateline and other capable journalist to do that job for the American people. So don’t ask us because we are in the dark just like we were a year ago.
Posted by: Al | September 16, 2009, 3:42 am 3:42 am
I think that we are back to square one– Wall Street continues with CEO’s pocketing millions of dollars in bonuses and the very large banks (the ones to big to fail) getting bigger. Because of the strong influence of the Wall Street/financial industry lobbyists on the US Congress and the White House we are seeing no accountability from Wall Street and the inept regulatory agencies as usual are not requiring any accountability. Even though President Obama says he wants accountability and that he was “angry” with CEO’s acquiring huge bonuses, he is all rhetoric. He is great at rhetoric but when it comes to action and substance, I am afraid he lacks both. It is ironic (also makes me angry) that the middle class has seen their nest eggs vanish as well as their homes depreciate due to the greed and lack of accountability on Wall Street and yet we are the ones bailing out these same greedy CEO’s. These CEO’s are the only ones who have PROFITED . And even though these CEO’s got us into this economic mess, these same people are still at their respective institutions continuing to lead those companies. I think that Wall Street and certain politicians are strongly fighting for “free markets” but I am afraid they only want “free markets” on their terms The terms: they want no government interference when their institutions are making profits. But if the companies are losing money–then they want the taxpayers to pick up the loses. WE Americans who have lost heavily in this economy no longer trust Wall Street or the US Government to do the right thing when it comes to ethics and regulation.
Earl Shumaker
Posted by: Earl Shumaker | September 16, 2009, 7:01 am 7:01 am
Well said Earl Shumaker, you covered the entire gamut!!!
I think the government and the Obama administration have pretty much told Wall Street “Hey guys, It’s going to be business as usual”.
Posted by: Nachthexe | September 17, 2009, 2:22 am 2:22 am
I think that Wall street has succeeded beyond all expectations at “not succeeding”. Allow me, fellow posters, to pass on to you a little story:
It is August on the Black Sea. It is raining, and the little town is deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. Suddenly a rich tourist comes to town. He enters the only hotel in town,lays a 100 dollar bill on the reception desk, and goes upstairs to inspect the rooms hoping to choose one. The hotel proprietor grabs the 100 dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the bill and runs to pay his debt to the farmer. The farmer takes the bill and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel. The supplier of feed and fuel takes the bill and runs to pay his debt to the town prostitute, that in these hard economic times gave her “services” on credit. The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 dollar bill to the hotel proprietor for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there. The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 dollar bill back on the reception desk so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything. At that moment,the tourist comes down after inspecting the room and grabs his 100 dollar bill, after saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves town. NO ONE EARNED ANYTHING. However the town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism. And that dear readers is how the BAIL-OUT MECHANISM WORKS !!! Nuff said…
Posted by: Nachthexe | September 17, 2009, 3:03 am 3:03 am
The people that will be hurt the most by regulations are the every day people who earn an honest living. The CEO’s will still make their millions. How would you feel if the government controlled the payroll of your company?
Posted by: Mark | September 19, 2009, 12:27 am 12:27 am