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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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 OPINION 
3

All Those Years We Were Racing to Nowhere

Investors Wasted 12 Years

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(Newser) – For years, denizens of Wall Street have been living a frantic existence, sleeping, eating and otherwise living at the office, “because whatever it is that had to happen had to happen immediately, or yesterday,” writes Elizabeth Wurtzel in the Wall Street Journal. And what did this feverish “ER-approach” to finance yield? Twelve years of wealth lost in a matter of month.

"Anyone who liked sleeping, or dating, or occasionally walking his own golden retriever" had to get another job. “If you blow the whistle, it’s only to hail a taxi to take you away, because complaining just is not tolerated.” Big firms regret buying this security or striking that deal, but not the rapid-fire, tunnel-vision ethos that got them here. “No one has stated the obvious: the whole system is warped.”

A specialist rubs his eyes as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, March 26, 2009.
A specialist rubs his eyes as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, March 26, 2009.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A stock trader works at the New York Stock Exchange Monday, March 30, 2009.
A stock trader works at the New York Stock Exchange Monday, March 30, 2009.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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A dozen years worth of sleepless nights down the drain like dirty bathwater. Pity these people.
- Elizabeth Wurtzel

Corporate attorneys like me, even those with the eyesight and insight of Mr. Magoo, all should have been able to see this financial collapse coming. - Elizabeth Wurtzel

I would love to call the system despicable or detestable or something evil-sounding, but that would be giving it too much credit. It's really just the march of dunces. - Elizabeth Wurtzel

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3 comments
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SPH
Apr 9, 09 2:19 PM CDT
No...The people involved in the scheme are the ones that are warped.... Reply
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TerrifiedCitizen
Apr 9, 09 2:54 PM CDT
Of course it's warped... they need to go get a real job. Wall Street is an illusionary other world where greedy people gamble to become wealthy off the backs of real people producing the work. Reply
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radnip
Apr 9, 09 11:12 PM CDT
The whole system is warped. Reply
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