Imprecise thinking abound.  The author starts with talking about the problem of big banks (fair enough) and then descends into longing for a command economy [1].<p>The author laments borrowing money to pay dividends, but the two are net-zero activities (investors are just shuffling their investment from stocks to bonds).<p>The author finally argues that real investment has fallen since the mid-century.  This is not true in a real dollar sense [2].  As a share of GDP though, investment has fallen from the 1950s because we are no longer rushing to build up capital destroyed in WWII.  As noted by Paul Graham [3] and more technically by economist Robert Solow [4], it was the decades surrounding WWII that was the exception and not the rule.<p>Finally, the finance sector has already been retreating as of circa 2005 [5].  The predicate of the article may then no longer be true.  If it is, would the author agree we&#x27;re seeing less issues and more social justice now than in 2005?<p>There are many precise, carefully thought-out treatments of inequality or the problems of financialization out there.  I count Philippon&#x27;s and Piketty&#x27;s research among them.  But this article seems to move in fuzzy concept space between &quot;finance has gone up&quot; and &quot;we don&#x27;t have a caring command economy&quot;.<p>I wish the author spelled out his thinking more clearly.  It sounds like it would be an interesting argument if made well.<p>[1] &quot;The state becomes submerged and hidden from our everyday lives, working through elaborate and blunted market mechanisms rather than helping citizens directly.&quot;<p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;research.stlouisfed.org&#x2F;fred2&#x2F;series&#x2F;GPDIC96" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;research.stlouisfed.org&#x2F;fred2&#x2F;series&#x2F;GPDIC96</a><p>[3] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;paulgraham.com&#x2F;ineq.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;paulgraham.com&#x2F;ineq.html</a><p>[4] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;newrepublic.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;117429&#x2F;capital-twenty-first-century-thomas-piketty-reviewed" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;newrepublic.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;117429&#x2F;capital-twenty-first-...</a><p>[5] Figure 5 of <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;pages.stern.nyu.edu&#x2F;~tphilipp&#x2F;papers&#x2F;Finance_Efficiency.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;pages.stern.nyu.edu&#x2F;~tphilipp&#x2F;papers&#x2F;Finance_Efficien...</a>  Incidentially, Philippon&#x27;s graph is used by the Wikipedia article on &quot;financialization&quot; but cut off at the 2005 peak to make it look like an unrestrained explosion upwards.