Oliver Stone: Wall Street Was Right on the Money

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good," proclaimed cutthroat corporate raider Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie Wall Street. It's about time that the movie's director, Oliver Stone, weighed in on Wall Street's unfolding crisis. Here's what he told the WSJ's Washington Wire blog:

"The Gekkos of the world are still there," he added, castigating industry icons who have partied lavishly while mortgage corporations and establishment banks were tanking. "It was greed that drove this. Look at the greed, the size of it, the derivative schemes, the hedge funds..." He said he feels sorry for workers who lost their jobs. He said, "But it was inevitable it would end like this."

"The content of the movie was right on the money," he said, pun intended. Stone was approached to do a version of "Wall Street II," but he turned that down last year to make a film about President Bush called "W" that will premier next month. Meanwhile, he conceded that being ahead of your time doesn't necessarily save you grief. He said, "I have stocks. I don't even know what the...they are now. We're all tied in to this mess."

Relive Gekko's speech below:

Reader Comments Read all comments (1)

Add Your Thoughts

Comment Name State Select One AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY International Email

Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image.

Incorrect please try again

Enter the words above: Enter the numbers you hear:

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.