The sector has devoted great resources to tilting all playing fields in its direction. Consumers are taken advantage of; consumer protection is vehemently opposed. And great risks are taken, with the downside handed off to the government (and the consumers again, as taxpayers).

I hereby propose that any company whose shareholder ownership exceeds the non-stock assets/income should be hyper-regulated. I’m no economist, but (other than outright theft or fraud, i.e. Enron or Madoff) it looks like the major failures of businesses that impact consumers (or causes the government stepping in to save consumers) are based on the idea of “increasing shareholder value”. Legalized gambling on Wall Street is too big to shut down altogether, but it needs to be restricted from impacting the people who can’t afford to play it or be damaged by it.

For me, this is about the health care industry, too…if you didn’t catch that subtle undertone…and the real estate debacle.