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Wall Street is looting the economy—and Washington is helping them do it. I’m tired of big financial firms padding their own pockets while the rest of the economy suffers, and that’s why I’ve got a plan to end it: medium.com/@teamwarren/en…
For decades, Washington has lived by a simple rule: If it’s good for Wall Street, it’s good for the economy. But it just isn’t true. Big banks are making record profits and handing out huge bonuses as average wages barely budge.
Study after study shows that, past a certain point, a growing financial sector hurts the rest of the economy by extracting money from it. And America is way past that point.
Just look at the private equity industry. They buy companies and bleed them dry. And when the company fails, the Wall Street guys walk away with millions while workers are left holding the bag. It's legalized looting.
My plan starts by ending this looting and fundamentally changing the industry. Private equity firms will only make money if the company succeeds. And if they make bad investments, they'll be held accountable instead of walking away with millions.
Next, my plan would address the incentives that fuel useless speculation that can make bankers rich but undermines the rest of the economy. Washington has encouraged this speculation with giveaways, subsidies, and lax rules. I want to end these practices immediately.
First, we should enact my 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act, which rebuilds the wall between commercial and investment banks and ends taxpayer subsidies for excessive risk-taking and speculation.
And we need to end the system where bankers can make huge bonuses if risky bets pay off but lose nothing if they fail. I'll appoint regulators who will impose tough new rules to rein in banker pay.
It's also time to push our financial system back to its core purpose—giving people a place to put their money & connecting savers with borrowers. Our system doesn’t serve a huge slice of the country: 25% of American households don’t have adequate access to a simple bank account.
I’ve spent years advocating for postal banking—allowing the United States Postal Service to partner with local community banks and credit unions to provide access to low-cost, basic banking services. As President, I’ll make it happen by appointing people committed to the cause.
Too many families face a choice of paying a late fee on their bills, an overdraft fee to the bank, or a sky-high interest rate to a payday lender while waiting on checks. The government should adopt real-time payment technology so families don't have to wait for checks to clear.
Finally, Wall Street sucks money away from companies that need it to grow. My Accountable Capitalism Act would end big companies catering to the short-term interests of Wall Street and let our companies focus on long-term growth and their obligations to workers.
I’ve spent a lot of my career studying how financial firms make money by tricking and trapping families. And after I proposed a new federal agency to protect consumers, I spent nearly a year setting up the @CFPB and helping write new rules to crack down on financial scams.
Letting financial firms run wild is undermining our economy. I am done with Washington ignoring the evidence and acting as if boosting Wall Street helps families. It's time to stop the looting, boost wages, grow our economy, and rein in Wall Street.
