The first half of the twentieth century, after Two World Wars, financial instability, uncertainty, and strife saw The Bretton Woods Accords 1945-1971 establish fixed arbitrage foreign exchange rates ushering in America as a colossus bestriding the world with little           or no competition. Establishing some stability, shared prosperity through deficit spending; investing in the future, Hoover Dam, The Tennessee Valley Authority, the Federal Interstate Highway System, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency {DARPA}, education, housing and upward mobility flourished in the affluent society.                                                                Even someone like Ralph Kramden of the television situation comedy fame of “The Honeymooners” 1951-1956 would regularly receive a raise even as the American economy continued to expand. However, since 1970 in reality, according to de facto research compiled  by  The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and The United States Federal Reserve, wages have stagnated shrinking the American middle-class. In other words, Ralph Kramden has been waiting decades for a cost of living adjustment.                                                                     THE POLITICS OF RICH AND POOR author Kevin Phillips and BOILING POINT               Democrats, Republicans and the decline of middle-class prosperity, says the 1970’s, is when America abandoned the middle-class.                                                                                                                       According to Judith Stein’s THE PIVOTAL DECADE: How the United States Traded Factories for finance in the seventies, America left manufacturing for finance abandoning The Bretton Woods Accords increasing risk, speculation and volatility in the International Monetary System.                                                                                                                                     For instance, as a member of President Gerald R. Ford’s Council of Economic Advisors 1974-1976, Alan Greenspan, personally explained to President Ford ‘the suitability of mortgage backed securities’, as a financial instrument moving risk from banks into capital markets. President Ford’s response, “Is this food for the average American?”                                                  The 1970’s were a decade of double-digit inflation where prices doubled annually within a ten year period until Paul Volcker, as The Head of The United States Federal Reserve played inflation.                                                                                                                                                                   As a warning, against 1980’s wall street excesses, Michael Lewis’ LIARS POKER  humorously describes the end of the wall-street partnerships moving from merger & acquisitions or equity underwriting for increased esoteric shareholder capital. Moving away from serving customers to forging  a mythology of rise and fall backed securities, collateralized mortgage back securities with a shift toward extreme risk taking trading. Led by mathematical hires like physicists and rocket scientist to assess hedging increased wall-street casino risks, ‘quants’ were allowed to turn commercial banks into investment banks with exotic trading. On the other hand, Value At Risk {VAR} failed to steer the industry away from ‘Black Swans’.                                                                                                                                                                  Decades previously, a healthy housing sector contributed to 20% toward an expanding American economy. According to William Black’s book THE BEST WAY TO ROB A BANK IS TO OWN ONE: How corporate executives and politicians looted the Savings & Loan industry through increased systemic risk, speculation and volatility after Paul Volcker successfully played inflation the elimination of usury laws, financial deregulation, risky financial instruments, plus linking corporate compensation to short-term stock price manipulation saw the 1989 Resolution Trust Corporation as the end of the entire Savings & Loan Industry.                                                                                                                                                                                Placing lipstick on a pig, due to ever-increasing systemic risk, speculation  and volatility the 1990’s saw formerly disreputable financial instruments re-emerge over-leveraging debt. For instance, having put Alice to work the couple could borrow more money, but speculative trading in the wall-street casino became more popular than fiduciary investing. In 1991, having avoided legitimate banking regulation the Bank of Credit and Commerce International [BCCI] was forced to close. Likewise, predatory lenders entered the American refinance housing market. 1994 Kidder Peabody’s calculating bonuses based on trading four ( 0.25) quarters for one ($1.00) with the Federal Reserve, eventually led to Kidder Peabody’s sale. 1995 Barings Merchant Bank, which had facilitated the historic 1803 Louisiana Purchase, succumbed to the riskier, speculative, volatile economic environment due to one lone rogue trader (now transactions are required to have at least four eyes, two different people confirm the accuracy of a transaction before completion).                                                   According to Nicholas Dunbar THE STORY OF LONG-TERM CAPITAL                        MANAGEMENT and the legends behind it, Roger Lowenstein WHEN GENIUS FAILED:            The rise landfall of long-term capital management, Bethany McLean +Joe Nocera     ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE the hidden history of the financial crisis and Carol Loomis TAP DANCING TO WORK Warren Buffet on practically everything, founded in 1994, LtCM over leveraged $5Billion into $1Trillion, along with 65,000 simultaneous long and short trading positions. In 1998, The Asian and Russian financial crisis led to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan overseeing a private liquidation of LTCM, because ‘this time is different’.                                                                                                                                                                  The early 2000’s, too much financial engineering at companies like Enron and WorldCom led to limited superficial patchwork legislation like (Sox) Sarbanes Oxley. For example, in former United States Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr. book    ON THE BRINK Inside the race to stop the collapse of global financial system on page 70 Citibank Chairman + CEO Charles Prince asked “Isn’t there something you can do to order us not to take all of these risks?”                                                                                                                                             July 10, 2007 according to The New York Times Charles Prince told  The Financial Times “As long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing.”…                2,008,   securitization of these risky instruments of improperly rated tranches of derivative led to the failure of Bear Sterns. According to ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE and SHAKY GROUND these riskier instruments led to the conservatorship of The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). Also, these complex derivative instruments led to the failure of The American International Group,Inc. (AIG). Fortunately, during the summer of 2008, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were able to act on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG before moral hazard struck Lehman Brothers.                            The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy remains the largest in American history.                                       Columbus Day, October 13, 2008 the $700Billion Toxic Asset Relief Program (TARP) allowed Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr. to infuse $125Billion in liquidity into the American Banking system through the nine largest American banks.                                                                October 24, 2008 in open congressional testimony former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan admitted to finding a flaw in his 50-year ideology concerning unregulated markets.                                                                                                                                                                                      November 2008, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke oversaw $7Trillion in loans to the International Banking System.                                                                                                                On the opening day the head of The Financial Inquiry Commission, Phil Angelides, told the heads of JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America “it appears like you were selling cars with defective brakes than taking out insurance on the drivers.”                    While former presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan writes in her Wall Street Journal column how people beyond the beltway feel that the system is rigged.                                                             2016, David M. Darst author of THE LITTLE BOOK THAT STILL SAVES YOUR ASSETS:What the rich continue to do to stay wealthy in up and down markets says “we re in the sixth year of steady expansion that may last until 2020.”                                                                                        “Human beings are a resource and not a cost!”                                                                                                                                                                                                 Peter Drucker                                                             Do you lead, manage; supervise 10, 100 or 1,000?                                                           Need to exceed advertising, corporate training, consultant reports, return on equity, and internal rates of return? Finally, there is a better way. Standardize, personalize; customize implementation of your 21st century emergent leadership growth results process. Starting now, by 2020, 2022, 2025 achieve double-digit 50%, 80%, 130% improvement in your sales & service growth strategy results! Time is running out, we can only work with a limited number of high-growth Chief Executives. In order to proceed, send your Fax to 718-798-2730 to set up your DIY?Coaching/Done-For-You discovery session.