Author David Smick is the latest pundit to argue that the U.S. economy is performing sub-optimally thanks to the outsize prominence of â??Wall Street.â? Smick has entered a crowded echo chamber populated by the self-righteous who think big is bad, and small is good. Supposedly â??Main Streetâ? represents small and wholesome compared to large and elite Wall Street. Eager to sell a book, Smick has published various op-eds of late asking the incoming Trump administration to shift its focus to the people, and away from finance. Supposedly booming economic growth will be our reward if some of the brightest financial minds in the world are neutered.
Interesting about Smickâ??s commentary is that heâ??s unwittingly promoting the very cronyism that heâ??s presently ascribing to big, bad Wall Street. Apparently the latter, along with the large companies it allegedly services without regard to the small, thrives thanks to its coziness with government. And while such an assumption ignores the normally sclerotic nature of industries with close ties to politicians (think airlines, banking, farming, and carmakers in the U.S.), Smickâ??s hope that the Trump administration will elevate the status of the small speaks to the very favoritism that Smick claims advantages â??Wall Streetâ? as is.
Read Full Article »