That sounds like a silly statement, ‘Wall Street doesn't exist’. But it is accurate. There is a street called Wall in New York and there is a financial industry in that neighborhood. Ninety percent of finance takes place elsewhere.
What I'm talking about is the phrase 'Wall Street' and the image Wall Street. In both of these instances it is an illusion. The financial world does not exist in any one geographic locale. Certainly it is not focused in lower Manhattan. Nor does this fantasy world of ‘Wall Street’ have nearly the imaginary political power that is ascribed to it.
Let's start with the absurdity of a geographic center of finance. The film The Wolf of Wall Street is about a man whose financial scam operation was located on Long Island.
Two of the four largest financial institutions (and banks) are located outside of New York. Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Charlotte and Minneapolis respectively. The actual operations of the two that are in New York, Morgan and Citi, are in New Jersey.
Both Bank of America and Wells Fargo grew to their giant status in California not New York. Both grew from headquarters in San Francisco not New York City.
While the New York Stock Exchange is still in New York it is insignificant compared to the five largest stock brokerage houses that do all of the actual stock trading online (bond trading is done over the phone). The largest is a Canadian company TD Ameritrade, number three Fidelity is in Boston and number four, Charles Schwab, was started and still operates in San Francisco. The other two are totally online.
That leaves only the investment as part of the financial world. The investment world is on the San Francisco Peninsula. That is the location where most new businesses get their financing.
That leaves only the metaphor of Wall Street as a powerful political institution. Once again, we have a fantasy.
In terms of power to influence the U.S. Congress the sources of power are as follows: the most important business to shape Congress is agriculture (including the diary industry); followed by automobiles, oil and gas, construction, military suppliers and number six is Wall Street. Wall Street, more accurately the world of finance, seldom agrees on anything so even in position number six in terms of political power they are not a major player.
Wall Street was an important power at several points in American history. It was also the great boogie man for the first century of American history as the Jeffersonians, the Left, the Southern-slave owners, the Democratic Party and the many Populist politicians focused their ferocious hostility on Wall Street. They all really hated Wall Street.
Wall Street was also like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a boogie man for those who were paranoid. It still plays that role today for the paranoid, the Left and the Democrat-Union Party.
I don't have an alternative term for the world of finance but the metaphor of Wall Street is just wrong.