Greed Is Good?
01/08/16 19:21
“Greed is good” by Gordon Gecko in Wall Street.
I think that statement set off more financial shenanigans then anything else. Gecko’s character was supposed to be a villain, yet somehow he became, if not quite a hero, someone who commanded respect? He was ruthless in the world of finance. He was charismatic. He was rich and powerful. He was self made.
I don’t think Gecko created the plethora of financial misdeeds that came about in the 1900’s and 2000’s, but he did seem to validate some of the baser instincts in the financial field. He empowered some more of the unsavory characters. The academic version of the “Greed is good” motto was the “The sole goal of a corporation is to increase shareholder wealth”. Some CEOs took that one step further in saying the goal should be to increase their wealth, and with the corporate structure acting as a personal shield, they acted with impunity.
Again, I go back to the Robert Owens experiment, employing owned companies and co-ops. Everyone’s interests on the same page, or at least much more closely aligned together and with a longer term view.
I think that statement set off more financial shenanigans then anything else. Gecko’s character was supposed to be a villain, yet somehow he became, if not quite a hero, someone who commanded respect? He was ruthless in the world of finance. He was charismatic. He was rich and powerful. He was self made.
I don’t think Gecko created the plethora of financial misdeeds that came about in the 1900’s and 2000’s, but he did seem to validate some of the baser instincts in the financial field. He empowered some more of the unsavory characters. The academic version of the “Greed is good” motto was the “The sole goal of a corporation is to increase shareholder wealth”. Some CEOs took that one step further in saying the goal should be to increase their wealth, and with the corporate structure acting as a personal shield, they acted with impunity.
Again, I go back to the Robert Owens experiment, employing owned companies and co-ops. Everyone’s interests on the same page, or at least much more closely aligned together and with a longer term view.
