Much Talk, But Little Changed on Wall Street

By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN
WSJ

So much has changed over the past year.

Or has it?

On the heels of the most harrowing period for financial markets since the Great Depression, politicians, regulators, investors and Wall Street executives shared a vow: never again. They would reform the system and change behavior to prevent another financial calamity.

Some significant changes have been made, such as slashing Wall Street's debt, scrutinizing compensation, simplifying financial products and potentially increasing surveillance of financial markets.

But more than a year after Lehman Brothers, American International Group Inc., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Washington Mutual collapsed or were saved by the government and financial markets swooned, it is striking how little on Wall Street has changed.

Indeed, the surge in markets around the globe last year suggests that fear has been replaced by relative complacency.

(More here.)