Law and Regulation, The Apitome of American Capitalism? The Emergance of Wall Street and New York as an International Financial Icon 1900-2002. Steele's novel "The Great Game"

Today, Governmental law and regulation seems to be the epitome of American capitalism. But this was not always the case; in the beginning, Wall Street was a ruthless environment with almost no laws or regulatory measures. Fraud, bribes, insider trading, market corners and an overall lack of precise accounting created a tremendously unbalanced market in which small shareholders were the primary losers. Men such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Jim Fisk, Daniel Drew and Andrew …

…l planes. Honesty was being forced upon everyone; from the investors to the brokers, to the specialists, to the corporation whose stock was being traded. Readily available information that is honest and reliable is a novel thing, because market regulation made it possible. Let us ensure that the Internet does not threaten the safety that we have come to depend on. Only with continued reforms of the market over the years will this be possible.