Economic Insights From A Lord Of Finance

Of all the social memes related to the economic and investment landscape, none is more dominant than that there is a small cadre of powerful Wall Street money men who, working behind the scenes, effectively control investment markets, the global economy and the politicians that play such a big role in that economy.

Whether you call them fat cats, greedy bankers, soulless manipulators or unindicted co-conspirators, the one sure thing, in the minds of most, is that they wield the power behind all thrones and that it is their whispered agreements, invariably made in darkened rooms full of cigar smoke, that decide the economic fates of us all.

Over the years, I have met quite a few of these "Lords of Finance" and found them to possess the same wide range of traits, positive and negative, shared by all humans: fear, insecurities, self-delusion, high hopes, good intentions, social aspirations, good habits and bad.

And, of course, the greed that the Lords of Finance are said to possess in extra doses. Like Gordon Gekko, I have no problem with greed, as long as the pursuit of that which gives you pleasure does no harm to others.

There is one trait, however, that, in my experience, is almost always present in a Lord of Finance – and that is an acute intelligence. When it comes to matters of finance, even the average Lord of Finance has a keenly honed mind that has been trained to precision to understand the complex pieces of investment markets.

Which brings me to my interview. We'll call him LOF, because the only way he would agree to be interviewed was if it was anonymous. A former colleague of a friend of mine, his career on Wall Street has stretched over 40 years and includes 10 years as the chief financial officer for one of the world's most powerful investment banks. Leaving that position to strike out on his own, he and a group of colleagues went into money management, overseeing billions of dollars. Now, slowing down in the latter years of his career, he and his colleagues manage "only" tens of millions.

My goal for the interview was two-fold. First, it is to help calibrate our own views on the outlook for the economy with an individual who is not just hyper-intelligent but who has spent a lifetime immersed in the money game at the very highest levels. Casey Research sees ongoing crisis, getting far worse before it gets better. But what about a Lord of Finance?

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