May 23, 2011
’m writing because I was affected by the economic collapse of 2008, and I don’t want it to happen again. I am a retiree who depends on social security and savings to pay my bills. Prices continue to go up, social security has not had a COLA increase for two years, medigap and Part D insurance premiums are rising, and savings are generating very little in returns. I have to keep some of my money in mutual funds and investments to survive. I can ill afford to have the economy crash again.
One way to change the incentives so Wall Street doesn’t collapse our economy again would be for regulators to set up a way for shareholders to grab back ill-gotten gains. If it turns out that the profits in a given year were built on shoddy practices that become clear in the out-years, those bonus payments should be forfeited.
There must also be disincentives for short term gains so that fund managers and Wall Street investors are forced to be more prudent in their trading.
Thank you for considering my comment,
Joyce Young