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“Finance and the Good Society” author Robert Shiller argues financial innovation plays a critical role for our society.
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So check this out a new survey today that just came out finds that 96%.
Of Wall Street executives admit.
-- firm's actions are at least in part responsible for the industry's toxic reputation with the public.
But Robert Shiller is author of the new book finance and the good society published by Princeton press arguing investment bankers are actually quote.
Keepers of the peace and promoters of progress.
Joins us now wow that's it like that I guess -- I mean we're quoting you directly.
You know all this comes -- in light of this incredible letter to the New York Times by the Goldman Sachs executives talking about.
How bad bankers are particularly Goldman Sachs.
You know -- obviously there's a lot of hyperbole there he's taken some heat for that but there is one section where he says.
That they persuaded clients to invest in stocks or other products that they're trying to get rid of because they are not seen as having a lot of potential profit now that's a serious -- if they're selling her job.
To their clients such a bad thing right.
Well we have -- term it's goes back to -- from biography it is good good faith.
And good faith means I don't try to sell something to you that I know hurts you and it has to be some sense of common good and I think that Goldman.
In the past.
Was a good -- maybe it's still it I'm not there now.
But I think that that's what great businesses are built -- and a bad reputation catches up with the does catch up with you.
OK let's first explain to our viewers if they're not familiar with the fact that you have made some incredible calls during -- entire career.
The dot com implosion all kinds of bubbles that you called including the housing bubble.
-- now you're saying that innovative products that Wall Street financial firms come up with are actually good for society.
Here's where some people might disagree and buying to come up with innovative products like.
Collateralized debt obligations which blew up in everybody's face is what's not fine.
Is when the exposure.
Reaches out to.
Substitute teachers -- people who never participated in those financial instruments and they the taxpayer have to bail out those -- that's what -- is if.
-- -- really start -- I have a lot of sympathy with those other people and I am not an apologist for bad things.
I think that.
We have to fix the system.
-- that in my book.
Is not just a it's not just extolling the virtues of finance but an argument that we have to democratize finance.
That's a little bit different -- Occupy Wall Street of course it means make it work better frost and that means innovate.
And it's it's part of a historical.
Process.
Our finance is much more democratic than it was a hundred years ago -- 200 years ago.
-- 200 years ago you couldn't even form a corporation -- a special dispensation.
Everything and everything was wrong right.
But if there are beginning is that that led to of fine system that we have not -- it still has problem and -- We're gonna continue on this trajectory I tell my students that finance will look.
This book -- there was written sort of look for my students -- originally it keeps trying.
The idea is that finance is gonna look a lot different in thirty years and it's going to be optimistic about that.
Now some people are worried because you praise financial instruments as a great source of capital for for new start -- -- are all kinds of new ways you can imagine using the Internet in order to finance not companies and stuff and and but congress already is getting in on the game trying to regulate that and many other things of course you have Dodd-Frank.
You have this new what I would do commission that supposed to regulate.
All financial instruments is is there a danger that we you're cracking down so hard with all these new regulations.
That there may not be the freedom to create new financial instruments.
I thought you were about to refer to the jobs pact which is just passed by both houses of congress and which loosens.
Regulations that.
Inhibit something -- crowd fund right but outside -- developments on the Internet so I think that this country is not lost.
We had bipartisan action.
On something that is a bit of an experiment and I don't know that it will work well but it looks to me.
Like an exciting move forward I think this country we'll do -- right and we will have a better developed financial capitalism.
The book is called finance and the good society -- professor Shiller thank you for joining loved to hear optimism and faith our system and it's great.
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