At Vegas large sums of money change hands. Marks become poorer and casinos become richer. On Wall St money is supposed to move from investors into economic development. With the brokers retaining a small commission for their "services". Unlike Vegas, economic good is supposed to come from Wall St activities. At least most of the time.
Some ordinary activities such as trading in stocks and bonds, do serve the economy. Some activities such as "securitizing" sub prime mortgages, and "credit default swaps" have ruined the economy.
The incoming administration should plan to discourage the distructive Wall St operations while encouraging the constructive ones. Was it me, I would clamp down on securitization of all types. If a company wants to borrow money, let it issue bonds in its own name. Stock market futures trading does not channel money into economic investment, it is a roulette game. "Credit default swaps" merely encourage buying risky securities, and when the market crashes the swap issuers lack the money to actually pay off. Gullable investors think the swaps insulate them from risk, in actual fact the deal merely costs the investor money and offers no additional security.
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