Not even close!
I don't think you'd want to hear it, but whereever a huge amount of money is, you will find some of the world's smartest people.
People and businesses don't make such astronomical amounts of money just on sheer dumb luck. They do it by being very smart, knowing the system and analyzing it for maximum profit. Of course, human nature being what it is, wealth can cloud the vision of even the smartest people, leading to the situation we have now.
But don't think for a second that Wall St. is populated only by "lower tier" thinking.
In Savings and Loan crises of 80s, wall streets banks lost all the money they made during the previous 25 years. In the current crises, I dont know the exact number but it is worse than that.
So if you believe that wall street banks actually make any money, you might want to reconsider your view points.
Point taken, I've always suspected my personal experiences are not an accurate representation of the general case.
I'm just wondering if there is a difference between the quants at partnerships where the traders had skin in the game, and the quants where the people who made tons of money had no downside risk?
People and businesses don't make such astronomical amounts of money just on sheer dumb luck. They do it by being very smart, knowing the system and analyzing it for maximum profit. Of course, human nature being what it is, wealth can cloud the vision of even the smartest people, leading to the situation we have now.
But don't think for a second that Wall St. is populated only by "lower tier" thinking.