Wall Street’s Apology to Main Street   

Dear Main Street,

It is with great shame that I come before you on bended knee to apologize for violating your trust.  To everyone on Main Street, the shopkeepers, the factory owners, the educators, municipal workers, and the community that I have betrayed:  I want you to know that I have been playing fast and loose for far too long.  You have every right to be furious with me.  I accept full responsibility for my part in creating the perilous economic conditions that our nation is in. 

Main Street, can you forgive Wall Street for abandoning its rightful role as the custodian of your financial dreams and goals?   At one time, the connections between Main Street and Wall Street were real and durable.  It wasn’t so long ago that Wall Street invested in your homes, businesses, and infrastructure.  Our partnership actually built things of lasting value, products that saved lives, and raised our standard of living.  When Main Street Prospered, Wall Street prospered.  But I turned my back on all that.  You looked to me for investments and information you could trust.  I responded by speculating, betting on ever more exotic securities, and pretending that to parse risk was to understand it.  I apologize for gambling away your money.   

My behavior has taken you for a rough ride and it’s not over.   I recognize that the road to recovery requires more than bailouts and other economic measures.  It requires truth-telling and contrition.  I hope we can build on these events to build a new partnership, for we truly are in this together.  The first step in this journey is for me to admit fault and apologize.  I am now ready to submit to a process that lets the light of day shine on practices that have been hidden far too long.  Where there were ill-gotten gains, I am ready to disgorge them.  Where there was arrogance, I am ready to be humble.  Where there were crimes, I am prepared to face the consequences.  Today, I have taken the first step to right what I have truly wronged. 

Going forward, I pledge to conduct myself with integrity so that, in time, Wall Street can once again walk with its head high in the company of Main Street.  I’m sorry for losing my way. 

Remorsefully,

Wall Street 

John Kador is a business writer in Winfield, PA.   His upcoming book Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust will be published by Berrett-Koehler, in Spring 2009.