What We Learned From The Justice Department's Civil Suits Against Wall Street Banks

The Justice Department has boasted about the large fines that it collected from Wall Street banks that packaged faulty mortgages into toxic securities that they sold to investors.  The banks agreed to the fines but received a favor in return.  The full details of what they did were not disclosed to the public.  Moreover, none of the executives at the banks were prosecuted for fraud.  The shareholders of the banks paid for the damages done to the economy.  Justice was not served, and a bad precedent has been set.  Bank executives understand that they will not be held accountable for future misdeeds that enable them to earn multimillion dollar bonuses at the expense of shareholders and the public.  Corporate directors have also learned that they will not be penalized for their failure to protect shareholders or the public from harm.