Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Arab Spring Comes to Wall Street

One of the most heartening developments of 2011 has been the Arab Spring.
A year ago, people fed up with oppression began challenging dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. Inspired by their success, popular uprisings spread across the Middle East, taking down strongmen like Mubarak and Ghaddfi. After decades of suffering, tens of millions of people now have the promise of a better way of life.
Many factors contributed to the downfall of authoritarian regimes, but one cause that will certainly loom large in history is the power of information.
Information flowing across the Internet and via social media enabled repressed people to share new ideas and collaborate in ways that simply weren’t possible in prior decades. They were empowered when they realized that many other people shared their opinions.
Demonstrations were organized over Facebook. Firsthand accounts of government crackdowns traveled the world by Twitter. Mobile phones transmitted shocking video that triggered outraged in people everywhere.
That the hero of the Egyptian revolution was an executive of Google – the nexus for sharing ideas and information around the globe – is the perfect metaphor for the Arab Spring. Google embodies the liberating force of information, which ultimately outgunned soldiers, tanks and secret police.
Wall Street Feels The Breeze Of Liberty
For investors and advisors, a similar sense of liberation is occurring for the same reason: Information is breaking through Wall Street’s facade of omnipotence.
One of the positive outcomes of the financial crisis is that the veil has been pulled back on Wall Street business practices. The post-mortems on the financial meltdown have revealed the naked self-interest of Wall Street’s conflicted business model.
Many investors have come to realize that Wall Street frequently acts first in its own self-interest. After that comes investors.
Advisors have also gotten fed up with Wall Street. The dictatorial style management that intimidates advisors with a “just-buy-this-we-know-best” approach has prompted many advisors to break away so they can do right by their clients.
The Unstoppable Tide of Human Aspiration
As hopeful as the Arab awakening has been, it will no doubt be messy as countries lurch toward democracy and free markets after being under the yoke of tyranny for so long.
The same can be said about Wall Street and its business practices. As information sheds light on Wall Street, more will choose the freedom and choice offered by an independent advisor. But it would be unwise to underestimate Wall Street’s staying power. This will not happen overnight.
The good news is that it’s become impossible to turn back the clock on progress. The free flow of information cannot be thwarted thanks to the Internet and social media. Information will remain the jet fuel for the unstoppable tide of human aspiration.
Happy Holidays from the team at Sanctuary Wealth Services.

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