I posted this because I thought it a timely study, given what is happening in today's economy, and the questions being asked about concentration of economic wealth and power.

And I disagree with Brian. The heart of the problem is that politicians, especially in the USA, are subject to lobbyists and their money so that behind the scenes, those corporations with much to gain or much to lose from pending legislation will work hard to gain a favourable outcome. Its just the way it works.

Now am I concerned about this particular concentration? As I said, I'm not sure. A lot of it is because of the fact that these financial institutions are also wealth managers for other institutions and investors, ie pension funds, mutual funds etc.

But I am in favour of more regulation of financial institutions because it is the lack of regulation and oversight that got us in this mess in the first place. Canada's banking and financial system has been consistently rated as the most stable in the world over the past several years, precisely because it was and is regulated.

Right now, as we speak, governments are discussing this very issue, and Wall Street is lobbying hard to maintain the status quo. We'll see what happens.


If writing ever becomes work I think I'm going to have to stop