Bypassing Wall Street: The Direct Route to Raising Capital and Investing 

 

Table of Contents (Start wherever you wish, by clicking on a heading)

 

 Introduction

 

Where is Wall Street and Who Works There

 

                        Wall Street’s monopoly

 

                        Wall Street expands beyond stocks and beyond New York

 

                        Wall Street ignores the middle class

 

                        Buy side money managers join Wall Street

                       

                        Wall Street transfers risk onto its customers

 

                        Wall Street becomes a casino

 

                        Wall Street partnerships become corporations

 

                        Buy side money managers become entrepreneurs

 

                        Wall Street dominates the economy and government

 

                        Wall Street keeps its monopoly on public offerings

 

                        Venture capital becomes another Wall Street money manager

 

Why We Once Needed Investment Bankers and Don’t Anymore

 

                        Direct investing was not enough before electronic communication

 

                        The role of investment bankers—in their beginning years

 

                        The middle class enters the investment market

 

                        Cutting out commercial bank competition—and the middle class

 

                        Our government bypasses Wall Street to pay for World War II

 

                        Wall Street—but not investment bankers—court the middle class

 

                        Mutual Funds come between investment bankers and the middle class

 

                        Financial derivatives become the investment banker’s stock in trade

 

                        Investment bankers become traders for their own accounts

 

                        Wall Street commercial banks become investment bankers again

 

                        Investment bankers no longer “underwrite” securities offerings

 

                        Why we still have investment bankers today

 

 The Harm That Wall Street Causes

 

                        Wall Street causes our economy to crash

 

                        Wall Street sacrifices everything for short-term profits

 

                        Wall Street Starves Entrepreneurs

 

                        Wall Street has caused a disconnect between people and our economy

 

                        Wall Street excludes the middle class from share ownership

 

                        Wall Street rations money for local governments and nonprofits

 

                        Wall Street uses complexity to maintain an impenetrable mystique

 

                        Wall Street uses complexity to hide risk

 

                        Wall Street has concentrated power in the few

 

                        Wall Street has made capitalism a casino game

 

                        Wall Street recycles taxpayers’ money and reduces retirees’ income

 

                        Mutual fund managers have adopted Wall Street morals and practices

 

                        Wall Street money managers don’t restrain corporate greed

 

                        Wall Street Changed the Objectives of Business

 

                        The IPO is not about financing business, it’s about the game

 

                        Wall Street crippled local governments

                        Wall Street cleaned out savings and loan associations

                        Wall Street trashed government sponsored entities

 

                        Wall Street promotes wasteful class action litigation

 

                        The way Wall Street works creates moral hazards that infect us all   

           

                        Wall Street promotes monopolies

 

                        Wall Street entices some of our best minds away from more useful work

 

                        Wall Street’s morality harms our national psyche

 

                        The Wall Street capital formation myth

 

  Direct Routes Open Now for Bypassing Wall Street

 

TreasuryDirect

 

Commercial Paper

 

Family and Friends

 

Direct Community Offerings

 

Direct Local Government Bond Offerings

 

Crowdfunding/Fanfunding

 

Peer-to-Peer Financing/Social Lending

 

Angel Investors

 

Search Funds

 

Incubators

 

Community Supported Agriculture

 

Suppliers as Shareowners

 

Rights Offerings

 

DRIPS and DSPPs

 

Folio Services

 

Posting Services

 

DPOs

 

Microlending

 

Local Governments as Direct Investors

 

Social Stock Exchanges

 

Dead Ends--Direct Routes That Were Blocked

 

Routes Around Securities Regulation

 

"The Era of Wall Street Domination is Over"

 

The Traffic Cops on Wall Street

 

                        Government Enables and Enforces Wall Street's Monopoly

 

                        The Federal Reserve Subsidizes Wall Street

 

                        The States and the Supreme Court Fashion Corporations to Serve Wall Street

 

                        The "Watered Stock" Red Herring

 

                        Government Left Wall Street Unconstrained Until the New Deal

 

                        The Great Depression, the New Deal and a Wall Street Strike of Capital

 

                        The SEC is Set Up to Police (Protect) Wall Street

 

                        How All Three Government Branches Protect Wall Street From Investors

 

                        Congress Sets Up Another Casino for Derivatives Games

 

                        Congress Cancels Out State Regulation of Wall Street

 

                        The Courts and Prosecutors Choose to Let Wall Street Run Loose

 

                        The "Regulatory Gap" for Investment Bankers Proves Self-Regulation Doesn't Work

 

                        Private Securities Cases Become Their Own Scam

 

                        Securities Laws Protect Wall Street Schemes, Like "Front-Running"

 

                        Wall Street Investment Bankers Use the New Deal Laws to Protect Their Monopoly

 

                        Wall Street is Allowed to Play Both Sides of the Game

 

                        Government Kicks Commercial Banks off Wall Street's Turf, Temporarily

 

                        The SEC Deregulates Wall Street's Sell Side, in its Dealings with the Buy Side

 

                        Privatizing Corporate Regulation

 

                        Opening the Door to Mortgage Securities and Subprime Loans

 

                        The SEC Helps Investment Bankers Focus on Institutions and the Wealthy

 

                        Build America Bonds Boondoggle

 

                        The Hedge Fund Loophole for Wall Street and Wealthy Investors

 

                        Congress Protects Wall Street's Buy Side

 

What Government Could Do

 

                        Proclaim National Policies

 

                        Limit Wall Street's Power to Harm Us

 

                        End Wall Street’s Monopoly Over the Flow of Investment Money

 

                        Free Small Business from Wall Street Regulation

 

                        Educate Individuals to be Shareowners

 

                        Encourage Individuals to Invest in Small Business

 

                        Demonstrate Direct Offerings of Government Securities

                       

                        Income Tax Rules Could Favor Shareownership

 

                        Make Corporate Charters Conditional and Revocable

 

Proposals for Change

 

                        Business as Usual, with Some Tinkering

 

                        Expecting Technology to Replace Wall Street

 

                        Using the Government to Bypass Wall Street

 

                        Changing the Corporation

 

                        Redistributing Income

 

                        Changing our Culture

 

                        Broadening the Ownership of Business

 

Glossary