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Top economist Jeffrey Sachs says Wall Street is full of 'crooks' and hasn't changed since the financial crash
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of The Independent (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
Posted: May 7th, 2013
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/top-economi...
One of the world's most respected economists has said Wall St is full of "crooks" and hasn't reformed its "pathological" culture since the financial crash. Professor Jeffrey Sachs told a high-powered audience at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve earlier this month that the lack of reform was down to a docile president, a docile White House and a docile regulatory system that absolutely cant find its voice. Sachs, from Columbia University, has twice been named one of Time magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World, and is an adviser to the World Bank and IMF. What has been revealed, in my view, is prima facie criminal behavior, he said. Its financial fraud on a very large extent. Theres also a tremendous amount of insider trading. We have a corrupt politics to the core, I am afraid to say, and . . . both parties are up to their neck in this. This has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans." Sachs described an environment of Wall Street influencing politicians with growing campaign contributions. In the 2012 election cycle, political contributions by the securities and investment sector hit $271.5 million, compared with $176 million in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. I am going to put it very bluntly: I regard the moral environment as pathological. They have no responsibility to pay taxes; they have no responsibility to their clients; they have no responsibility to people, to counterparties in transactions, he said. They are tough, greedy, aggressive and feel absolutely out of control in a quite literal sense, and they have gamed the system to a remarkable extent.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on criminal practices of Wall Street corporations, click here.