&gt; The financial industry arises naturally from the time-value of money combined with human greed.<p>Well, no.  There are very definite regulatory changes that <i>allowed</i> bigger banks to eat smaller banks, for instance.  I still remember how my parents opened my first savings bank at a bank that was regional to Northern New Jersey, which was then later eaten by something I don&#x27;t remember, than by Bank of America.  Likewise, the whole &quot;mortgage tranche&quot; fiasco happened because we <i>allowed</i> loan originators to sell off the ownership of loans to other parties, rather than having to eat the lunch they&#x27;d made for themselves with their own levels of risk-taking.