Why didn’t any Wall Street CEOs go to jail after the financial crisis? (2019)

Re:Why didn’t any Wall Street CEOs go to jail after the fina... by ryandrake on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @03:46PM (#28293958)

I think the sentiment is more "The rich have created this financial system that's essentially a giant casino, where if they make a bet and are right, they profit, and if they make a bet and are wrong, the general public loses their jobs and 401(k)s while the government pays to bail them (the rich) out. The fact that none of it appears to even be criminal is just icing on the cake and shows who the law really protects.

If none of the actions that caused all that misery are actually crimes, that's the problem.

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Re:Why didn’t any Wall Street CEOs go to jail after the fina... by nickff on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @03:56PM (#28294094)

>"If none of the actions that caused all that misery are actually crimes, that's the problem. "

Why? Why should the stock market be further de-risked? Why should the government's poor impulse control be encouraged? Why should mistakes be criminalized?

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Re:Why didn’t any Wall Street CEOs go to jail after the fina... by ryandrake on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @04:03PM (#28294195)

I didn't say anything about the stock market. Reckless decisions made by rich banks and financiers should not effect anyone but themselves, let alone cause economy-wide crises that hurt regular people.

Could you imagine if I went off to Macau to play a high stakes game of poker, lost, and as a result, you lost your job and the government staked me in my next poker game? That's pretty much what happened.

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Re:Why didn’t any Wall Street CEOs go to jail after the fina... by nickff on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @04:30PM (#28294596)

You said "401(k)s", so I assumed you meant investments in publicly traded equities; my apologies if I was mistaken.

>"Could you imagine if I went off to Macau to play a high stakes game of poker, lost, and as a result, you lost your job and the government staked me in my next poker game? That's pretty much what happened."

I understand what happened, I just don't see it the same way you do. It's not your fault if I lose my job because it relied on your gambling, and it's also not your fault that my government makes stupid bets.

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