Finance Steamrolls Scandals

U.S. finance has grown so large and fast (record IPOs, bond issues, buybacks, ETFs and mergers) that even big corporate scandals or hedge‑fund collapses are quickly absorbed or sidelined by flood‑scale capital moves. That scale also creates and enlarges new asset markets (compute, prediction markets) whose risks and politics are now driven by financial engineering rather than underlying productive investment. — Recognizing that finance now sets the tempo for technology buildouts and political attention reframes regulatory priorities, antitrust thinking, and public oversight of strategic infrastructure.