The notion of greed or self-interest has driven modern economies and now society is facing the ramifications. As stated by Nobel prize-winning psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, “any successes [financial investors] have are due to luck more than judgment”. Yet, out of greed the big hedge fund managers-which make up a large portion of the top 1%- continue to pay bonuses for their perceived skill. Relative to a plumber, the “hard earned fortune” of Wall Street bankers seem not so hard earned.
However, the root cause of this inequality lies in the system, which allowed it to occur. The loopholes such as carried interest loophole enables the wealthy (hedge fund manager) to contribute less portions of their income to taxes than the average american.The anger not necessarily focused on the individuals in the 1%, but instead to the system, which promotes the accumulation of wealth to a select group. Many of the wealthy individuals mentioned in Paul Thompson’s blog have advocated for higher taxes for the rich including Warren Buffet.
Ethics may not be dead but greed tends to cloud the moral compass of individuals and without proper government regulation greed as we can all agree can cause events such as the housing bubble in 2008.