The April 9, 2009 BusinessWeek has an interesting article on Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, which pioneered low-fee index funds. Some excerpts…
U.S. family wealth plummeted 18% last year, the most since the 1930s; $9 trillion in stock market value has vanished since 2007 … the financial services industry took home some $500 billion in fees last year. “What the hell for?” he thunders. “If they looked after other people’s money with the same care they look after their own, we wouldn’t have to be bailing out banks.”
“This is the most troubling economy and the worst bear market I’ve ever seen….Our system has failed.”