Wealth and Wall Street: The Shocking Truth Behind Our Complicated Financial System

This is my final chapter on The Great Taking.

First, a big shout-out and huge props to David Rogers Webb for (a) taking the time to assemble his thought-provoking book, (b) providing all the references, and (c) being brave enough to actually publish it!

The deeper I went the more I had to learn.  Honestly, the Great Taking inquiry and everywhere it led me was similar to the effort that went into my Covid work.  When such moments come along, as your information scout, I dive in, learn as fast as I can, and distill what I discover so you can (a) learn quickly and (b) save a bunch of time.

The final summary ideas are these:

1. David Rogers Webb has done a great service to us all.
2. Its major claims are real.
   1. Securities entitlements
   2. QFC’s have seniority.
   3. Pooled assets, with vague areas about control
   4. Harmonization and case precedents have been set.
3. I went further, to discover:
   1. The system is opaque as shit.
   2. The risks cannot be quantified.
   3. Wall Street miscreants have not been properly punished.
   4. There are too many trust-breaking legal ‘rulings’ that protect Wall Street’s major interests for my taste.
   5. Importantly, nobody has been able to tell me how much collateralization, hypothecation and rehypothecation exists, where it sits, and which financial assets have been encumbered or for which control has been moved.

Because of this pattern of findings, I have to conclude that none of us know what the risks are, how big they might be, or how the system will behave when the next great financial accident comes along.  And one certainly is on the way.

But we can project, based on the actions already proven in court and Congress, that the risks are larger than we’ve been told, that corruption is both endemic and epidemic, and that when push comes to shove money will be conjured out of thin air to “protect the system” which is actually code-speak for “make insiders aren’t the ones taking any losses.”

Please, the main conclusion – nay, the plea I make – is for you to take any and all necessary steps to protect your wealth from these raccoons!

Note:  The links for this episode will be embedded in the first comment (as there are many and they would clog up this page).