Forum Post: Wall Street Manifesto - Part 4

(Hypothetical speech by a prominent Wall Street banker to the 99%)

For the record, we thought that the housing market was dangerously overheated a few years ago. Nonetheless, we were encouraged or pressured, if you will, by the government to approve as many mortgages as possible. We dutifully complied. In order to meet strong demand, we bundled the mortgages into packages, which we sold to investors who could not get enough of them. We made sure those securities were rated triple A by our partners. We cannot help it if the housing market turned sour. It was a good run while it lasted. At least we had the good sense to protect ourselves by shorting the investments we sold to our customers. There are always two sides to a trade. We were just a little smarter as things turned out. We agreed that the optics were bad so we paid a fine out of petty cash to settle with the government when they filed frivolous charges against us. That is simply the cost of doing business. It was all for show. Even though we were faultless, we decided to settle the civil lawsuit because it was best for us to move on. We let the government look tough, but we do not want it to become a habit. Next time, we will not be so charitable.