The Financial Industry in the US - Essay Example

The financial industry in the US has a high stake in the outcome of the regulatory policies framed by the US government. The other industries in the economy of the US have a comparatively minor stake in the outcome of the regulatory policies of the Federal government. Thus the financial industry tries to maximize its gains and profits that are influenced by the regulatory policies of the US government. In their plight of maximizing the gains of the financial industry, the high-ranked Federal government officials who are at the helm of their political tenure are influenced by the financial industries.

The government officials were originally stakeholders of the financial industry and could align themselves with the intentions of the industry. As a result of this, US government officials are captured by the financial industry, and the policies are also influenced to their advantage and thereby ignoring the interests of the general public. A deeper capture by the financial industry is the capture of academic researchers on economic events, such as the great depression, financial crisis, economic recovery, prospects of a third economic recession, etc. The researchers who are consultants to the financial and commercial sectors are paid by the business houses for consultancy and research. The financial industries would like to suppress research findings that go against the interests of financial gains and growth. On the other hand, the manipulation of research through hefty payments to the research consultants could turn the tide of public investments in their favor. The researchers were also get influenced by their means of livelihood. This research is being manipulated and findings are published that serve the best interest of the business houses and the financial sector. The public interest is thereby hampered as these provide incorrect insights into the prospects of investment in the economy of the US.
Proposal: ways that society could try to reverse this trend and alleviate this problem

It would unrealistic to imagine that the US government’s high-ranked officials and academic researchers could be impartial from the interventions of the financial industry in their roles and duties toward the welfare of the public. Society could, however, try various ways to reverse this trend and alleviate this problem. The scholars, educated intellectuals of the society, and the public could be a part of the tripartite model that could advocate the interests of the minority groups and other sectors of the economy (Baxter 191). Society could influence the implementation of economic democracy where the interests of the other sectors of the economy are proportionally represented and this would impact the aspect of independent thinking of the US government officials.

The representative of the society should engage in meetings with the Federal government and academic researchers to remind them of the expectations of the public. The public agenda distributed by the government in the pre-election stage and the expectation of the public as they have elected the party to form government should be discussed by pointing out the deviations in the policies framed. Social democracy could also adopt tools of public protests by engaging representatives from all sectors of the economy and promoting the interests of the public. To build a resilient system in the long run, the social representative could be the third force in influencing the majority of the Senate to enact laws against the unfair influence of the financial industry on the US government and the academic sector. Thus necessary discussions, protests, and legislations by the government against possible capture by the financial industry could be promoted for the empowerment of all sectors of the economy. Read More