Tom Wolfe: Bonfire of the Investors

As the economy struggles to restructure itself, we may see a piece pulled from the center somewhere- like our "flailing" economy is some giant Jenga tower- but, that piece represents an entire industry. As the tower readjusts to save itself from collapse it may do so without that piece. That niche, the investment banking industry, will see a collapse of it's own; it will be reduced to nothing more than, well, banks. Furthermore, we don't even know how this one piece will affect the entire economy.

Tom Wolfe's article in The Times plays his old characters, "the Masters of the Universe," the stock brokers, on Wall Street's modern stage. Our lease-to-own culture has created more trouble than the Masters can contend with. Wolfe refers to the hedge fund "gates" that will begin to open tomorrow, leaving investors the chance to cash out rather than renew. The Masters of the Universe will be left like sphinx guarding what were once riddling investment numbers. Now, investors may pass through these gates alone, straight to the banks, or to the new master: the FDIC.