but I can't recall a single finance giant acting for the good of ANY community. Consider another interpretation. I don't think Shiller is saying that finance a

but I can't recall a single finance giant acting for the good of ANY community. Consider another interpretation. I don't think Shiller is saying that finance acts altruistically. I think that Shiller is claiming that finance does add intrinsic value to world. personally, I think that most banking professionals can't clearly articulate the value of finance. But there is clearly huge value to society of having skilled financial professionals. The trouble is its usually intangible. The invisible hand and all. To think up one hypothetical example ... say we had ethical and talented bankers who foresaw the housing bubble and therefore steered their banks away from financing home development in the Nevada desert. That could be immensely valuable and could have saved society billions of dollars that was wasted on homes no one wants.