Wandering down to Wall St

Whilst in lower Manhattan, a stroll down to Wall Street is worth a look if for nothing more than a quick photo opportunity at the heart of America's financial hub. There is not really much to do there; with all the security surrounding the financial district, forget about trying to get anywhere close to the New York Stock Exchange, let alone inside. Yet strangely, I wouldn't have missed this New York site.

However, I find it strange standing outside a cordoned off building snapping photographs; because oh no, we are not allowed inside to view the goings on, we plebs are not insiders. This pretty much sums up the American financial system; like minions, we are all affected by the decisions made inside the New York Stock Exchange but not made privy to the dealings made inside the walls of the NYSE.

The fact that this building is located on Wall Street is not lost on me, they have erected a wall around the NYSE to keep the great unwashed at bay. This building is a monument to insider trading and corporate fraud, naturally; we need markets, the system requires liquidity and a place to trade, we need stock exchanges but not ones run like this one.