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Why I left Wall Street
Corporate sharks and heart-to-heart talks with my dying father led me to change course
Saturday, September 20, 2008 6:15 AM PDT
Many years ago, I walked out of Merrill Lynch corporate headquarters at 1 Liberty Plaza and left Wall Street entirely. I moved as far away as I could and still remain in the lower 48 — Seattle.
To this day, people ask me what happened. I was an officer, earned an excellent salary, had a generous expense account and a corner office with a panoramic view of the Hudson River.
Looking back, I count five reasons.
First, I had grown increasingly uncomfortable with most of my peers. The simple fact — true then and still true today — is that the bankers, lawyers and traders who gravitate to Wall Street work for money.
Colleagues who were asked to list the most important thing in their lives would reply that it was their family or their faith. But really, it was money. No one works on the Street for its aesthetics.
Second, I had reached a period in my career where, after a series of promotions, I was swimming with the sharks. Doing deals and bringing in revenue to the firm had been enough at the beginning.
But eventually, my early successes led to becoming a department head with a large staff reporting to me.
By then I was a visible target. Insecure executives above me were nervous that I might outshine them. And my overly eager underlings wanted my job.
Like everyone else who approaches the top rungs of the corporate latter, survival became key.
That meant being willing to out-maneuver the hard chargers around me. I had two options: scheme to put the skids to my superiors or let myself be undercut by my subordinates.
Neither option held any appeal.
Third, and closely linked to reason two, I was increasingly disappointed in myself. I silently rooted for my superiors to fail. Their downfall could accrue to my benefit. Wishing bad things to happen to others is an ugly way to live.
Fourth, I had over the years already avoided several corporate reorganizations and purges. No one dodges them all.
Fifth, my father, a businessman all his life, died. During many searching bedside conversations we had throughout his prolonged illness, he encouraged me to step away and live a more fulfilling life.
I can't say that I never regretted my decision. The last time I checked, the job I once held paid a seven-figure salary — and not just barely seven figures either!
Another wonderful feature of the high life that I look back on wistfully was the freedom to order World Series tickets and have the bill sent to accounting.
Despite the perks, however, I would make the same decision today.
This week's events — the Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers' Chapter 11 proceedings, and the last-minute federal rescue of AIG — re-confirms my judgment.
The unthinkable happened. Merrill Lynch, my former employer, Wall Street's giant and the dominant securities firm for a century, is gone.
What precipitated Merrill's demise was moral bankruptcy.
In 2007, while America tried to cope with growing financial uncertainty, the big boys had no worries.
While your savings vanished, your home equity plunged and the value of your investments dwindled, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain earned over $80 million. Thain worked at Merrill for less than three weeks. His short time aside, Thain was, according to the Associated Press, America's most highly paid executive.
On Dec. 3, 2007, Thain brought in his close friend ,Nelson Chai and appointed him executive vice president and chief financial officer. Chai's 2007 salary: $2.5 million for less than a month on the job.
In August 2008, Thain added his former Goldman Sachs associate Thomas Montag to the Merrill Lynch roster for $40 million.
If you really want to feel outrage, think about this: Just prior to the Bank of America acquisition, over the last four quarters Merrill Lynch wrote down $52 billion in assets, posted cumulative losses of more than $17 billion and had to raise nearly $30 billion in capital to stay afloat.
The Merrill Lynch board forced the man responsible, former chief executive officer Stanley O'Neal, to resign last October. Before being shown the door, O'Neal received a $160 million exit package.
Today, O'Neal is sitting on his fortune playing golf, no doubt at one of the finest resorts in the world. Given today's real estate values, O'Neal could use his golden parachute to gobble up his native Alabama.
In the meantime, who knows?
Maybe one of the 24,000 employees dismissed under O'Neal's watch would be willing to serve as his caddy.
Joe Guzzardi recently retired from the Lincoln Technical Academy. He has much fonder memories of his career at the school than he has of his Wall Street days.
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Timothy wrote on Sep 29, 2008 4:38 PM:
I think the value of a house may still drop, but it will turn around. "
Robb wrote on Sep 29, 2008 10:11 AM:
Timothy wrote on Sep 28, 2008 4:16 PM:
I would not have bought one for a home nor for an investment. They were so over priced.
The fact that you could buy one with no down and with those silly interest only loans made it very clear it was a terrible purchase. "
Timothy wrote on Sep 28, 2008 4:12 PM:
You will make money. "
Robb wrote on Sep 28, 2008 3:47 PM:
Land can be an investment, houses, not so much.. "
Timothy wrote on Sep 28, 2008 8:08 AM:
You bought a house you cannot afford and you have failed to buy health insurance for your family. Now you want the government to "save" you. You like socialism. Fine.
You are A RINO. Quit calling your fellow Democrats names. You are not a Republican. "
Timothy wrote on Sep 28, 2008 8:03 AM:
I also DO say you are a RINO. You claim to be a republican yet insist on being bailed out when your investments go south and insist on using government health care because you refuse to buy your own.
This does not make you a bad person. It certainly DOES make a RINO... a closet democrat. "
Brian wrote on Sep 27, 2008 10:11 PM:
So instead of being the snob that you are perhaps you can express a little understanding about the situation that many of us are in. In other words, I don't give a rat's ass how much money you can throw around. "
Timothy wrote on Sep 27, 2008 9:10 AM:
Sounds like you do not like the investment you made and want a bail out.
Like I said, RINO, deal with your loss. "
Brian wrote on Sep 26, 2008 8:00 PM:
And how is it fair that I should still have to pay the whole original loan amount when my mortgage company stands to spend more money if I were to foreclose. We are talking about extenuating circumstances for a lot of homeowners who are in the same position as me. "
Timothy wrote on Sep 26, 2008 4:29 PM:
AH, a true RINO. You bought a house that costs more than you can afford. Your problem. Deal with it. "
Brian wrote on Sep 23, 2008 7:53 PM:
" Brian said" Funny you realize this yet you are voting Democrat"
Brian I have said over and over that I have always voted my party, Republican. This year I am looking at Obama.
I never, ever, ever voted for a Clinton. "
-Well, to go from a died in the wool Republican to voting for the most radical
leftist Democrat, Sam must be desperate. "
sam wrote on Sep 23, 2008 10:13 AM:
Brian I have said over and over that I have always voted my party, Republican. This year I am looking at Obama.
I never, ever, ever voted for a Clinton. "
Brian wrote on Sep 23, 2008 8:54 AM:
Funny you realize this yet you are voting Democrat this election and they continuously pump more money into public schools instead of voting to reform the public school system.
They also had a chance to vote to rein the banks in when all these banking problems started coming to the surface and refused.
Gotta hand it to Bubba Clinton for repealing the Glass-Stiegel Act in 1999. "
Brian wrote on Sep 23, 2008 8:47 AM:
I just found out my property is worth half what I owe. Now, from an economic standpoint, it would be in my mortgate companie's best interest to do a principal writedown on my mortgage.
We bought this house right before the market peaked. We've never had any equity on the house. It's steadily gone down in value since Oct. 2006. "
sam wrote on Sep 23, 2008 8:30 AM:
Throwing money at a problem, without fixing the problem, never works. "
sam wrote on Sep 23, 2008 8:28 AM:
My anger comes with us bailing them out. By doing so are we not saving those jobs in India? What about our workers? "
sam wrote on Sep 23, 2008 8:23 AM:
"Lets face it, many borrowers (people) put little or no money down, so they dont have much skin in the game. With little skin in the game, it only makes sense to leave while you have whatever skin you have left in tact."
If we go back to where a % down on the purchase of a house purchase was a must, we would have people buying homes that they could really afford. "
Brian wrote on Sep 23, 2008 8:09 AM:
In regards to the Wall St bailout: It seems to me if it's good for the goose then the banks should allow for more principal writedowns on homoeowners that are upside down on their homes.
Homeownership is always better for the economy than a bunch of people renting.
Here's a link to principal writedowns.
http://loanworkout.org/2008/04/banks-must-write-down-loans-to-prevent-a-mass-homeowner-exodus/ "
sam wrote on Sep 23, 2008 7:59 AM:
And yes, he posts a lot of websites. Some are hilarious, some are one sided, and some are truthful.
When anyone posts cut-and-paste verbage, I generally skip over it. I will go to a website (I have been to many that you post... I even watch Bill O'Reilly now... I even watched his interview with Obama).
My comment was that I enjoy hearing people's personal opinions. I am not trying to be rude, but lately I had been skimming over your blogs. The blog about your Dad made me stop. I enjoyed it. "
sam wrote on Sep 23, 2008 7:45 AM:
I was not attacking your cut and pasting. I was commenting that I did enjoy the personal touch of your blog on Sep 22, 2008 7:18 AM.
I was asking for your "personal" views on the Wall Street bail out, not to attack you, but to discuss it with you.
You have a nice day. Seriously. "
Brian wrote on Sep 23, 2008 7:09 AM:
Brian wrote on Sep 23, 2008 7:01 AM:
real facts wrote on Sep 22, 2008 10:51 PM:
there's the reason.
well for those that HAVE morals anyway.
this is one in a line of moral failures designed as a wake up call, that very few will get.
these scenarios won't be the last. there will be more, because the number of people who won't listen, outnumber the people who will "
sam wrote on Sep 22, 2008 6:02 PM:
Brian, what is your take on this Wall Street melt down? ( in your own words). Personally I wish we would NOT give them money (capitalism at its best).
I worked 2 jobs to pay off our mortgage. We also worked extra jobs to pay off our student loans.
I don't want to pay off someone else's mortgage or default student loan. "
sam wrote on Sep 22, 2008 5:57 PM:
I love hearing stuff like this from you. I am so sorry your Dad died so young. But you are blogging your own words. Keep it up and keep it real.
My bet is that your Dad would have seen this mess coming. "
shrubeater wrote on Sep 22, 2008 1:22 PM:
Cogito wrote on Sep 22, 2008 12:52 PM:
wtf wrote on Sep 22, 2008 10:41 AM:
Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million
Senator John McCains campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/us/politics/22mccain.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1222105571-vHD9NQJnJjGIXq5q6PznNQ "
wtf wrote on Sep 22, 2008 10:31 AM:
Vote whoever you want - it won't make a difference anyway. The neocons have rigged the vote and it's McLame. Whoo-hoo! "
wtf wrote on Sep 22, 2008 10:31 AM:
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog/?p=574
McCain on the same.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/21/mccain-deregulation/
I was going to say that the Republicans picked the wrong guy; but the Republicans didn't pick McCain - the neocons did when they hijacked the Republican party.
Don't worry, Neo, the neocons have rigged the vote so your senile boy McLame is in - he'll be the next pResident. Anybody else, write your own Fantasy Ticket - the neocons have it sewn up and the fix is in - it's McLame for pres.
If you've loved the last eight years with Junior, you'll **really** LOVE the next term with McSame...more of the same only worse.
But why fight it? Give in...the neocons are so dirty, they'll stoop to any level to "win" and we get to pay for it...over and over and over again. "
Caruso0326 wrote on Sep 22, 2008 9:09 AM:
Frank Caruso "
Brian wrote on Sep 22, 2008 7:23 AM:
Brian wrote on Sep 22, 2008 7:18 AM:
I wonder what he would think about the stock market today? "
Neo wrote on Sep 21, 2008 9:16 PM:
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 6:52 PM:
She's black like Obama
She's young in the political world like Obama and Palin
She's a woman like Palin
She's a mom like Palin except Cynthia McKinney is a single mom; a much tougher row to hoe than Palin who had her husband as a stay-at-home dad - so McKinney could actually identify with more Americans.
She's Catholic like Biden, and...
She's got a bit of a temper like McLame with the exception she has the rest of her faculties. "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 6:52 PM:
Ron Paul is an old, white guy (only one month younger than McLame) except Ron Paul has all of his mental faculties, understands the economy, wants to end the war, is a doctor and understands the health insurance industry, supported by our troops and has the majority of young people behind him so he's not seen as old like McLame is.
Don't know if anyone noticed that this past week when Wall Street went into meltdown, both McLame and Obama were waffling around with campaign promises; yet, shocklingly, the MSM asked **Ron Paul** what should be done. Hmmmm.... "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 6:43 PM:
It won't matter who **anybody** votes for because the puppet masters behind the scenes have already chosen McLame.
Therefore, since it's a done deal by the neocons; I might as well vote my "Fantasy Ticket" i.e., who I would like to see as president and vp.
Maybe everyone should vote their Fantasy Ticket - if it's McLame or Obama - so be it; but choose who you **really** want for president and vp.
McSame is such a senile old fart, I'm surprised he's even on the campaign trail and not in a nursing home; while Palin's voice has become like nails on a blackboard and I physically cannot bear to hear the woman lie, er, speak, anymore. "
Lodian wrote on Sep 21, 2008 4:44 PM:
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 12:27 PM:
But I have to really wonder if America has been dumbed down so much that McCain can really still be in the running. The man is pathetic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNGa6Ujyaf4 "
shrubeater wrote on Sep 21, 2008 12:13 PM:
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 12:10 PM:
We all know that the Fed is trying to stick the American taxpayers with trillions of dollars in debt (direct or through inflation) to bail out the Wall Street robber barons.
But did you know that they are also trying to get you to bail out foreign gamblers?
An article in the Telegraph states:
"The Fed has also just offered another $125bn of liquidity to banks outside the US that are desperate for dollars and can't access America's frozen credit markets"
"Another" $125 billion? How much has the Fed already given to foreign banks?
Why are American taxpayers who are already drowning in debt due to U.S. gamblers also being asked to also bail out foreign speculators?
This isn't a pro-America anti-everyone-else post. If I lived in England, or Canada or Japan, I would resent being asked to bail out America, too.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/09/21/ccliam121.xml "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 12:07 PM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KReZyAZLI0 "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 11:59 AM:
I will vote my conscience. I will vote for the man best suited to the job of leading our country. I will vote for Ron Paul by writing his name in as a protest vote.
There is much more going on in our country than people realize; the recent financial catastrophes are only the tip of the iceberg. "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 11:55 AM:
The Navy released John McCains military record after a Freedom of Information Act request from the Associated Press. The record is packed with information on McCains medals and commendations but little else. The one thing that the McCain campaign does not want to see released is the record of McCains antics on board the USS Forestal in 1967. McCain was personally responsible for the deadliest fire in the history of the US Navy. That catastrophe, with 27 dead and over 100 wounded trumps McCains record as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
http://rockcreekfreepress.tumblr.com/post/35321150/navy-releases-mccains-records "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 11:51 AM:
CNN is reporting that a prominent member of the Rothschild banking family and Bilderberg attendee set to endorse McCain:
http://bitternclingyamerican.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/rothschild-to-endorse-mccain/ "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 11:46 AM:
Fury at $2.5bn Lehman bonus
Nomura and Barclays table bids today for US giants London operation as banks administrator likens collapse to Enron
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4795072.ece "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 11:44 AM:
The large contingent that deployed from Alaska to Iraq on September 11, 2008 that McCain refers to, was not of the Alaska National Guard but was in fact the Army's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
McCain also noted that Sarah Palin's son was a member of the National Guard which is also incorrect. Palin's son, Track, is a member of the Army.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqavpO66f2w "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 11:35 AM:
We Hopi don't believe in Voting. If you speak for the Creator you are a majority because the Great Spirit is the Majority. We don't believe in voting because if the few believe in Creator, then they become the Majority. The Hopi believe that it will come to that. Maybe one or a few people will left and if they believe in
the creator than they will be in the majority. So it is today, when we speak to you, Lehman Brothers. Even though we are just a few here, we speak for the
Creator, who is the majority.
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/09/traditional-hopi-admonishes-lehman_16.html "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 11:34 AM:
We know from the previous worlds; there are warnings that people go out of
balance. They no longer listened to their leaders and priests who warned them of danger and many times tried to guide them on the right path and repent. Instead they were laughed at and made fun of. One day the great destruction began. People panicked. Some ran back to the Priests begging, "Oh, Great Ones, please help save us, we will reform." "We have warned you many times," the priests replied loudly. "Nothing can be done now. The time has come for you to depart,
but you all deserve one last thing. Take your riches and your wealth and go
down."
cont. "
wtf wrote on Sep 21, 2008 11:32 AM:
mining sacred Black Mesa
After Peabody orchestrated the so-called Navajo Hopi Land Dispute, more than
12,000 Navajos were relocated to make way for Peabody's coal mining. Senator
John McCain, R-Ariz., was among those responsible for Navajo relocation.
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/09/navajo-hopi-and-lakota-delegation.html "
dyan wrote on Sep 20, 2008 5:02 PM:
shrubeater wrote on Sep 20, 2008 3:41 PM:
shrubeater wrote on Sep 20, 2008 3:32 PM:
My husband had been talking about the farce of capitalism for the past couple of years. I disagreed with him until this week. Did Lehman, Merrill, or Bear Stearns send us taxpayers a little check when they made money? Of course not, yet we are expected to bail them out, with nonexistent money(sell more treasury notes to China). If that's not SOCIALISM on a grand scale, I don't know what it. "
russinlodi wrote on Sep 20, 2008 2:09 PM:
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 1:28 PM:
dyan wrote on Sep 20, 2008 11:01 AM:
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 10:43 AM:
Ron Paul warns of Worldwide Economic Collapse
http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=774 "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 10:30 AM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkUc0k2ePhk&feature=related
Ron Paul said this almost one year ago...
Ron Paul vs Ben Bernanke - Monetary Inflation - 11.08.07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj9KHJRRUbQ
Congressional Leaders Stunned That Bernanke Finally Admits The Truth
The list of reasons the financial system is unsound grew massively today, by the tune of a $1.2 trillion taxpayer funded bailout designed to bail out the wealthy at the expense of the poor. (and middle class)
Earlier today Paulson has the gall to state "this will cost the tax payer less than the alternative".
No one bothered to ask why it should cost the taxpayer anything at all.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-11295.htm
The above is true - they made the error, they should pay for it. How many of us get "bailed out" by someone else when we make financially unsound decisions? "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 9:45 AM:
In a magazine article published earlier this month, John McCain not only claimed credit for the banking deregulation, but he hailed it as a model for what should be done with health care:
"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."
Of course now that things have imploded at Lehman and AIG, John McCain claims to be the world's most sincere champion of tougher regulation. But his new position has all the credibility of his campaign's attacks, which is to say none at all.
http://www.jedreport.com/2008/09/mccain-praised-banking-deregul.html "
shrubeater wrote on Sep 20, 2008 9:27 AM:
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 9:15 AM:
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 8:58 AM:
Servus means "slave" - it's almost laughable, I just noticed if you break down the Latin word "Servus" it becomes
Serve Us
And that ain't you! LOL!
Don't believe me? Look these words up; preferable in the Oxford English Dictionary which provides the etymology (history) of a word. "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 8:55 AM:
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog/?p=115
There will be a lot of neocon maysayers who say Ron Paul doesn't know what he's talking about. But he does.
Doubt if you will read it; but an excellent book is "The Discourse on Voluntary Servitude" written by Etienne de la Boetie.
It speaks of how a tyrant has six men around him (who get the perks) and these six men have six men, etc. The goodies "trickle down" to their cronies...however, when the going gets tough, these goodies are pulled in starting with the guys lowest in the group.
All you supporters of McLame should remember this.
Another thing, remember when Bush Sr. said he wanted a "service" economy? All U.S. manufacturing went over seas and what we have now **is** a "service" economy. "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 8:49 AM:
Something Big is Going On
Authoritarianism has been around a long time. For centuries, inflation and debt have been used by tyrants to hold power, promote aggression, and provide bread and circuses for the people...
...The financial crisis, still in its early stages, is apparent to everyone: gasoline prices over $4 a gallon; skyrocketing education and medical-care costs; the collapse of the housing bubble; the bursting of the NASDAQ bubble; stockmarkets plunging; unemployment rising;, massive underemployment; excessive government debt; and unmanageable personal debt. Little doubt exists as to whether well get stagflation. The question that will soon be asked is: When will the stagflation become an inflationary depression?
...The mistakes made with excessive credit at artificially low rates are huge, and the market is demanding a correction. This involves excessive debt, misdirected investments, over-investments, and all the other problems caused by the government when spending the money they should never have had.
(cont.) "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 8:12 AM:
The American taxpayers never got a red cent in donations from AIG - but now, they're being forced by people like McCain, whose career profited from AIG donations, to buy his backer's massively indebted trash heap in what can only be described as the worst business deal in this nation's history, or the worst example of crony nationalization...
...Martin Feldstein, who serves on the board of AIG, is one of McCain's top economic advisers. Earlier this month, Feldstein gushed in the Wall Street Journal over McCain's plans to cut taxes even further, and to shift healthcare costs from employers to employees in a "tax credit" scheme that many believe will solely benefit insurance companies, at the expense of workers. Since AIG is - or was - the world's largest insurance company, it stood to gain from McCain's policies.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/ames "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 7:51 AM:
Q: But don't we need to get these toxic assets off banks' balance sheets?
RP: Sure, they need to be removed. Somebody needs to suffer the consequences [but] not the taxpayer.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-home-front/2008/9/19/ron-paul-this-bailout-wont-be-the-last.html
These latest rounds of bailouts are going to fall on the taxpayer through what Ron Paul calls the "hidden inflation tax" - the Fed is pumping more dollars into the economy which will result in the dollar being further devalued. This means, as the chart in my earlier posts show, that it will take more dollars to buy less and your standard of living will go down even more.
Following video has Ron Paul speaking part way through. Dynamite!
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=QiKh9Ko3mw4&feature=related "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 7:09 AM:
I knew you can.
I've wondered why Ron Paul has been interviewed so much in the MSM lately and think I finally figured it out. The MSM interview Ron Paul on the current financial mess to get his take - he's been right all along - then, the next thing you know, here's McLame touting what Ron Paul has said.
Only thing is.....Ron Paul WALKS his talk - he knows what he's talking about; whereas McSame is just another trained chimp mouthing phrases he's been spoonfed without a clue as to what he's saying. "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 7:06 AM:
1774 needed 0.81
1776 needed 0.88
1787 needed 0.94
1799 needed 1.24
1803 needed 1.14
1810 needed 1.24
1820 needed 1.18
1830 needed 0.93
1843 needed 0.75
1859 needed 0.84
1870 needed 1.32
1877 needed 1.06
1885 needed 0.97
1890 needed 0.92
1900 needed 0.85
1910 needed 0.96
1913 Federal Reserve created
1915 needed 1.01
1923 needed 1.78
1930 needed 1.74
1933 U.S. dropped the gold standard
1941 needed 1.53
1957 needed 2.93
1961 needed 3.12
1970 needed 4.05
1970 - 71 Nixon closed the gold window
1977 needed 6.31
1987 needed 11.83
1994 needed 15.44
2001 needed 18.45
2007 needed 21.60
What this means is something that cost $10.00 in 1913 would cost you $215.98 in 2007.
This is what Ron Paul is talking about when he says the purchasing power of the dollar has diminished; you need more dollars to buy less goods.
Here's his news clip:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=lQsC-F9YRxk "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 7:05 AM:
Ron Paul was in the news today and he mentions that a BIG part of the problem with the U.S. economy is the Federal Reserve and lack of gold backing our currency. He's right.
Found the following website and plugged in 1913, the year the Fed was formed, as a baseline. In other words, $1.00 in 1913 equaled $1.00. I wanted to know how much in different years was needed in order to purchase the equivalent of $1.00 in 1913.
The results surprised me.
Here's the website so you can do your own calculations:
http://www.measuringworth.com/ppowerus/ "
wtf wrote on Sep 20, 2008 7:04 AM:
Not just Merrill, though, all of them, and this administration as well. Actually, I think you're being kind....I call them psychopaths. LOL!
These people have no care or concern about anyone but themselves. Yes, people should look after their own interests, but the type of behavior exhibited by these individuals goes over the line.
Still, you see it everywhere. These guys get golden parachutes while families are being made homeless; LUSD plans to get rid of teachers rather than members of an over-staffed administration.
Read on another blog a comment by a guy who said watching the traders clear out their desks didn't really faze him much; after all, he said, these guys didn't blink an eye when all the middle class manufacturing jobs were being outsourced and workers had trouble finding another job that could pay as well.
Fact is, a lot of the members of Wall Street were partially, if not directly, involved with manufacturing being outsourced. "
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