Financing Opportunity: How Financial Markets Have Fueled American Prosperity for More than Two Centuries

Financial markets have fueled American prosperity for more than two centuries, so why are they often distrusted and criticized as harmful?

The United States has had robust financial markets practically from the date the nation was founded. Within several years of ratifying the Constitution, the depth and breadth of America's banking and securities markets rivaled those of any other developed nation. And that's a good thing.

America's financial system is inseparable from America's enormous gro...