WALL STREET IS A MORAL HAZARD

There are two main principles on Wall Street: (1) Don't get caught and (2) Fool the hicks. In return, you get an obscene amount of money, as Cliff Schecter reports:

While executives at the top five Wall Street firms are getting a record $38 billion in bonuses this Christmas season, millions of working families are worrying whether they will lose their homes in the New Year-in the wake of the nation's mortgage crisis.

Wall Street seems to be giving unprecedented cash rewards to the very people whose conduct threatens to strip millions of Americans of their homes and drive our country into recession, while at the same time refusing to take the actions necessary to address the crisis.