ex-wall street chieftains living large in post-meltdown world

[xchrom]

http://www.nationofchange.org/ex-wall-street-chieftains-living-large-post-meltdown-world-1378998568

***SNIP

Five years after the near-collapse of the nation’s financial system, the economy continues a slow recovery marred by high unemployment, hesitant consumers and sluggish business investment.

Many of the top Wall Street bankers who were largely responsible for the disaster — and whose companies either collapsed or accepted billions in government bailouts — are also unemployed. But since they walked away from the disaster with millions, they’re juggling their ample free time between mansions and golf, skiing and tennis.

Meantime, the major banks that survived the crisis, largely because they were saved with taxpayer money after being deemed “too big to fail,” are now bigger and more powerful than ever.

The Center for Public Integrity looked at what happened to five former Wall Street kingpins to see what they are up to these days. None are in jail, nor are any criminal charges expected to be filed.

[KG]

1. on wall st, nothing succeeds like failure.

[xchrom]

2. +1

[el_bryanto]

3. Seriously this drives me nuts -

I am a capitalist - i believe that capitalism works better than economic systems. And what I have been told; what we have been told is that those big CEOs deserve the big bucks because they are willing to take the big risks. But as it turns out - they aren't personally risking a damn thing. They have no skin in the game. CEOs are protected from the consequences of their own failure.

Unfortunately their employees, the environment, and we the people aren't.

Bryant

[HughBeaumont]

6. When you have incestuous boards composing your entrance AND exit packages . . .

. . . yeah, there is no risk coming in or going out. You essentially get lotteries no matter WHAT kind of job you do.

There's no sense of community or social fabric anymore. It's not even a balance like you have overseas - it's all about vacuuming production, privatizing gains and socializing risks and losses.

[Amonester]

8. There is no risk because they all protect each other by hiring lawyers and

by making sure their political contributions are equally spread over the political spectrum.

So, once more, nothing will change until private-interests money will be banned from politics.

Whining endlessly (or not) about it will not change a single thing.

(Unfortunately, those who would have to vote for the ban are those who benefit from the status quo.)

[HughBeaumont]

4. I noticed that whine-dog libertarians by the truckload have been invading Alternet lately.

With all of their "Statist/Collectivist" Cold War bullshit . . . and they wonder why not a thinking soul on Earth takes them even one bit seriously.

[NuclearDem]

5. Proceeds from criminal activity.

Sad we'll never arrest so it can be seized.

[Wilms]

7. ^

[Garion_55]

9. Have they started moving up to the flying orbital station yet?

or is the general public not supposed to know about that yet?

[heaven05]

10. of course!

What did you expect? That these clowns would be on the beach living in a shack. There is billions out there in the hands of out and out suit and tie crooks. This is amerika and our laws protect the evil rich and wicked and shaft the poor. Just reality till it's changed.

[bklyncowgirl]

11. As George Zimmerman put it, "Those@#$%^& always get away.

Or to quote Bob Dylan, steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you king.

[Enthusiast]

12. Nice.......nt

[Enthusiast]

13. Kicked and Recommended!

We need more discussion on this issue. Way more.

[Scuba]

14. Kick

[jsr]

15. This is how our system REALLY works.

[devils chaplain]

16. "Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king" - Bob Dylan n/t