2 responses to ““The finance industry is a grift””

1. Paul Horwitz

   February 19, 2026 at 3:25 pm

   I’m surprised not to see comments here; I suppose social media reduce the felt need or willingness to comment on blogs, which is too bad. In any event, just a note to suggest that calling Cass an “economist” is generous. He is not an economist because he has a doctorate in economics (he doesn’t), or even a mere master’s degree in economics (no again), but because he runs a “think tank,” and when you run a think tank you get to award yourself the title of “chief economist.” I don’t know the current makeup of Cass’s “think tank,” American Compass, but I looked at it last April and wrote this on my own blog: “Out of curiosity about how it might come by its expertise in the area, I visited its website. The group, which describes its mission as ‘developing the conservative economic agenda,’ has a small team of ‘economists’–actually, ‘chief economist’ Cass is the only one with ‘economist’ in his job title, so I guess it’s ‘chief’ in the same way that I’m the chief law professor in my family–plus ‘policy directors,’ ‘policy advisors,’ and the usual add-ons. It is so fiercely devoted to its ‘economic agenda’ mission that, on a team of twelve, it can boast a remarkable total of zero economics doctorates, zero master’s degrees in economics, an MBA, and around two-ish undergraduate degrees in economics. That is…a surprising number, for a group which describes its own mission as developing an ‘economic agenda.’” (American Compass continues to receive munificent funding from the Hewlett Foundation, which under former leader and fellow non-economist Larry Kramer engaged in a steady ironic flow of tens of millions of dollars to subsidize its vision of “remaking capitalism.” The Law & Political Economy crowd at various elite schools likewise sup on the Hewlett dime. I would be more sanguine about this, ironies and disagreements notwithstanding, were it not for the fact that Kramer’s populist but politically inept vision simultaneously contributed to Trump’s 2024 election and supplied a healthy sinecure for his apologists.)

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   1. Boris Dagaev

      March 16, 2026 at 2:13 pm

      Any chance of a substantive factual response as opposed to ad hominem? Who cares if Cass has a degree in economics?

      Is what Cass writing not true? For example,

      “Less than 10 percent of Goldman’s work in 2024, measured by revenue, was helping businesses raise capital. Loans of Goldman’s own funds to operating businesses accounted for less than 2 percent of its assets. At JPMorgan Chase the figures were 4 and 5 percent; at Morgan Stanley, 7 and 2 percent. Even the efforts at helping to raise capital are misleading, because less than a tenth of it goes toward building anything new. The rest funds debt refinancing, balance sheet restructuring and mergers and acquisitions.”

      etc.

      P.S. With regard to the ‘reduced need or willingness to comment on blogs,’ this blog does not offer the WordPress feature of subscribing to an RSS feed of comments. Without that, it’s hard to follow and engage in discussions. [BL reply: if you submit a comment, you are given the option of getting email notifications of the discussion]

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