Occupy the Stock Exchange is about knowledge, not obstruction

This week the chief executive of Citigroup, one of the world's biggest banks, called the actions of the Occupy Wall Street protestors "Completely understandable…" a statement the vast majority of Americans would agree with if the slogan "We are the 99%" is to be believed. The message is a simple one, that all Americans except for the 1% of Wall Street financiers have been devastated by the crash. It's this sense of injustice (compounded by the fact that the people who caused the crash are the only ones to have avoided its impact) that has sparked copy-cat protests in cities across America and inspired a British version, hitting the City of London this weekend. 99% of people are likely to feel more sympathy with the protestors than the bankers (I'm using this as a catch all term for anyone who does something really well paid in the City) because of a feeling that they have become a class apart, gamblers who can never lose because they're protected by politicians who bail them out with our money when their bets backfire but let them pocket the winnings on a good day.

Video: Fox News UK at the Occupy the London Stock Exchange

Occupy the Stock Exchange is partly inspired by the lack of political intervention, in January the government announced it would not attempt to limit bonuses, like that paid to Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond, who in 2010 was awarded a bonus of £6.5 million on top of his £250,000 annual salary. Naomi Colvin, spokeswoman for Occupy the Stock Exchange, describes how a group of about 30 acquaintances made the decision to bring the protest to London about a month ago: "The austerity measures target the wrong people, families on middle and low incomes, meanwhile no measures have been put in place to regulate the financial system meaning another crash could happen."

What the FTSE 100 is and why it matters

The occupation is intended to provide a democratic forum for people to debate the issues and broaden their knowledge: "We're told that finance is too complicated to understand and so part of what we want to achieve is to help educate people by sharing knowledge."The movement does not aim to bring the City to a standstill by obstructing people getting to work, rather there will be a positive focus on increasing understanding of the financial system and arming people with knowledge. Let's face it, the bit of the news with the share prices in it has never been a favourite for 99% of people and nowadays financial gobbledygook seems to dominate the airwaves. Strangely the information overload doesn't make people feel better informed, just more likely to turnover, especially as economists' opinions on how untangle the mess vary wildly.

More regulation to prevent another crash is another goal. The Labour Government notably failed to rein in the City during their 11 years in office because during the good times Blair and Brown gladly spent the vast sums of tax it produced on the public sector.
A report this year by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers illustrates that even amidst a slump financial services are the biggest contributor to the Exchequer, making up 11.2% of the total UK tax take amounting to £53.4 billion in 12 months to March 2011. This partly explains the City's political power and also why bankers sometimes view 99% of people as ingrates benefitting from 50% of their income.

Retooling the system to make this awesome asset work better for the majority is another desirable outcome; as beyond tax contributions the City should be the engine powering the real economy, raising money for companies that are looking to grow and then taking a cut of the profits to pay back to investors, like pension funds who then disperse money back to the 99%. The occupation is highlighting how this system is broken, with the City less concerned with the real economy, with an undue focus on swapping and trading complex financial instruments that allow them to profit from real companies and banks even when they fail. If the City profits and bonuses are paid even during a downturn what incentive is there to avoid crashes that only affect the 99%?Colvin says there is no end date to the occupation as there appears to be no other solutions on the horizon.

Occupy London Stock Exchange is begins on 15th October at noon.