Trump, Bankman-Fried and Musk are the monsters of American capitalism | Robert Reich

For them, and for everyone who still regards them as heroes, there is no morality in business or economics. The winnings go to the most ruthless

If this past week presents any single lesson, it's the social costs of greed. Capitalism is premised on greed but also on guardrails - laws and norms - that prevent greed from becoming so excessive that it threatens the system as a whole.

Yet the guardrails can't hold when avarice becomes the defining trait of an era, as it is now. Laws and norms are no match for the possibility of raking in billions if you're sufficiently ruthless and unprincipled.