So the Pope won't be blessing Wall Street?

[moondust]

What about the money changers?

[PatrickforO]

1. Dang!

[meow2u3]

2. Let me fashion a whip for the Pope to topple Wall Street

I can make one with extension cords--replete with the wires exposed! A lot more effective against sociopathic hedge fund managers than old-fashioned cords.

[DustyJoe]

3. Investments

Do people really think one of the richest religous organizations in the world with tentacles in every fabric of society doesn't invest heavily in the capitalist markets throughout the world and makes plenty doing it ?

[moondust]

5. I wondered about that.

~

The Vatican does have its own mini-hedge-fund — called the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See — but the organization, which manages the Vatican's stock and real-estate holdings, typically favors an ultraconservative, low-risk investing strategy, meaning that it misses out on some market rallies. In addition, the Vatican's heavy real-estate exposure means that the book value of its holdings can fluctuate dramatically with the broader market.

~

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/03/vaticans-financial-empire-in-charts.html

[Kang Colby]

4. I understand the beef with "Wall Street"

But what's so bad about the global equity markets?

[moondust]

6. The greed they engender

and the adverse social consequences that follow.

[Kang Colby]

7. That's an opinion.

You could just as easily argue the equity markets engender fear and have a positive effect on society. For illustrative purposes, $1000 invested in U.S. stocks in 1972 is now worth over $70,000. $1000 invested in emerging markets in 1972 is now worth over $454,000. That's a fixed investment example, an example using small periodic investments would be astronomical. Advocating people eschew risk appropriate investing is horrible nonsense. That's why I don't understand why people speak negatively of the financial markets. Now, complaints about Wall Street I do understand...but the actual markets are a different matter entirely.