I do think there are many legitimate aspects of finance. However if you consider the impact that mispriced real-estate had on credit markets, and consider that

I do think there are many legitimate aspects of finance. However if you consider the impact that mispriced real-estate had on credit markets, and consider that bad regulation led to over-investment in real-estate, then the massive chunk of the market that went away when the bubble burst was all profiting off of regulatory mistakes. I consider things like the mortgage interest deduction a massive regulatory mistake, as well as the capital gains tax exemption, etc.