The Decade's Movers and Shakers

Who and what were they?

With 2010 fast coming to a close, we say goodbye to another decade and enter one anew.

2001-2010 was not without its drama; we saw the horrors of terrorism with 9-11, we had the wars in the Middle East, there were epidemics, massive oil spills, nut job dictators, and possibly every other misfortune to contend with.

It wasn’t all that bad though; we saw the first black president go into office (doesn’t mean I like him), we had once-poor nations rise in prosperity, we also saw a multitude of technological and medical breakthroughs.

And in our world of finance, it was just as interesting.

We came into this decade with a bubble bursting, and soon, we leave it with the ruins of 2007 still aflame.

LTCM shut its doors just as the Dot Com bubble was inflating.

As it burst, we saw companies disappear; and Enron became synonymous with greed and fraud.

Europe united under a single currency.

China rising.

On Wall Street, the quants took over.

The rise of Real Estate, the return of Mega buyouts, the bonuses, and all the perils of exuberance from therein.

That said, what were the real gamechangers of this decade?

And who were the people who influenced it the most?

Arguably it’s the financial crisis that has left most monkeys reeling, it’s been years now and still the outlook going forth is uncertain, so it definitely takes the cake as far as I’m concerned.

But the rise of China and the rest of the Emerging Markets is nothing to scoff at, neither is the move to algo.

As for who, I’m leaving that to you guys. Is Blankfein Wall Street’s Man of the decade? Holding court at GS as it took center stage makes him a contender. How about Bernanke and his policies? Schwarzman and Blackstone’s rise? Or is it that cunt Madoff?

Who should it be? Who was most influential?

Enjoy your weekend WSO.

18 Comments
 

This decade will most certainly be remembered in China, India, Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia (and others) as the decade of economic growth. That's a little over 3 billion people who saw significant increase in living standards (well, most of them, still a long way to go). I grew up in India and there is such a marked difference in purchasing power and living standards of the middle class when you compare 2001 and 2010. My flatmate, from Guangzhou (China), agrees.

As far as the 'who' question goes - Should we forget George W Bush? From the Afghan and Iraq invasions and the war on terror to bailing out Wall Street, I doubt any one person had more of an impact on world events, in this decade than GWB.

 
Best Response

the decade ended in 2009 good lord dont you remember all the "best of the decade" last year.

"Oh the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion" - Frank Slaughtery 25th Hour.
 
trade4sizethe decade ended in 2009 good lord dont you remember all the "best of the decade" last year.

Totally agree. No one ever says the George Bush got elected in the 90's.

looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
 
trade4sizethe decade ended in 2009 good lord dont you remember all the "best of the decade" last year.

Oh, I'm so sorry T4S, I didn't know the first year ever was year zero. Your semantics as usual is such a benefit here, thank you so much.

Go choke on cum you fucking know it all.

People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis, you can't trust people Jeremy
 
Mr_Herculesthe decade definitely ended a year ago. nice try writing something meaningful

burn

-- "Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say."
 

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