[Riflema]

I've been hearing this argument more and more from succesful people in the financial services industry. What they never mention is that over the last couple of generations, the amount of effort/money burnt in non-productive endeavors of all kinds has gone through the roof. It's not just the finance industry: let us count the ways in which our affluent society has trodden water economically:

• litigators
• agitators
• regulators
• grief counsellors
• community organizers
• environmental protectors
• consumer protectors
• homeless advocates
• disphoria advocates
• and on and on ad nauseum

  you could add the entire Non-Profit Governmental complex and all its subsidiaries./rant

[dennisw]

You have a good list of barnacles, leeches and drags on our economy but what productive work do you think they should be doing? This is a bit of a trick question.