Wall Street in a conceptual sense represents financial and economic power. To Americans, it can sometimes represent elitism and power politics, and its role has been a source of controversy throughout the nation"s history, particularly beginning around the Gilded Age period in the late 19th century. Wall Street became the symbol of a country and economic system that many Americans saw as having developed through trade, capitalism, and innovation.
Wall Street has become synonymous with financial interests, often used negatively. During the mortgage mess from 2007—2010, Wall Street financing was blamed as one of the causes, although most commentators blame an interplay of factors. The U. S. government with the Troubled Asset Relief Program bailed out the banks and financial backers with billions of taxpayer dollars, but the bailout was often criticized as politically motivated, and was criticized by journalists as well as the public. One writer in the Huffington Post looked at FBI statistics on robbery, fraud, and crime and concluded that Wall Street was the "most erous neighborhood in the United States" if one factored in the $ 50 billion fraud perpetrated by Bernie Madoff. Many complained that the resulting Sarbanes-Oxley legislation dampened the business climate. Interest groups seeking favor with Washington lawmakers, such as car dealers, have often sought to portray their interests as allied with Main Street rather than Wall Street. When the United States Treasury bailed out large financial firms, to ostensibly halt a downward spiral in the nation"s economy, there was tremendous negative political fallout, particularly when reports came out that monies supposed to be used to ease credit restrictions were being used to pay bonuses to highly-paid employees. yst William Cohan argued that it was "obscene(肮脏的)" how Wall Street reaped "massive profits and bonuses in 2009" after being saved by "trillions of dollars of American taxpayers" treasure" despite Wall Street"s "greed and irresponsible risk-taking". Washington Post reporter Suzanne McGee called for Wall Street to make a sort of public apology to the nation, and expressed dismay that people such as Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein hadn"t expressed contrition (侮悟) despite being sued by the SEC(Securities and Exchange Commission)in 2009. McGee wrote that "Bankers aren"t the sole culprits, but their denials of responsibility and the occasional vague and waffling expression of regret don"t go far enough to deflect anger".
But chief banking yst at Goldman Sachs, Richard Ramsden, is "unapologetic" and sees "banks as the dynamos(发电机)that power the rest of the economy". Ramsden believes "risk-taking is vital". Others in the financial industry believe they"ve been unfairly criticized by the public and by politicians.
Images of Wall Street and its figures have loomed large. The 1987 Oliver Stone film Wall Street created the iconic figure of Gordon Gekko who used the phrase "greed is good", which had an unexpected cultural influence, not causing them to turn away from corporate greed, but causing many young people to choose Wall Street careers. All of the following statements are true EXCEPT ______.