Wall Street Regulations and The Seven Dwarfs

As the leaders from Goldman Sachs and Fabulous Fab repeated over and over to Congress that they did not profit from the creation of a terrible entity that they knew Paulson was shorting, I was reminded of The Seven Dwarfs. Not the little fellows who hung around with Snow White, but rather of 1994 when the leaders of the seven largest tobacco companies swore that there was no connection between tobacco and cancer. No one believed The Seven Dwarfs as they lied yet they cashed their checks for millions and continued merrily along. Tobacco usage in the US has declined yet global sales thrive. No one believed the I-bankers testifying in front of Congress this week either.

So what about the big banks and regulation. Will regulation have any impact? Unlikely. In order for regulations to have any impact, the shareholders have to have real power so that they profit more than employees. Congress will have real motivations to make changes when they don't get funding from those they are trying to regulate and don't aspire to be either lobbyists or employees in those industries. When will that happen...not until the public demands it.