Wall Street Whispers - Leadership Vacuum

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- One of the country's leading commentators on the financial crisis and its origins had a telling revelation and a startling conclusion about what it all means.

The revelation: Lawmakers have no idea what they're doing, nor do financial executives.

The conclusion: There's a huge leadership vacuum in the financial industry that has existed since at least the mid-1980s. It's not quite clear who can fill that role, whether they will be allowed to do so or where they will come from if so.

Michael Lewis

As a result, the stock market may simply be irrelevant, according to the commentator.

Michael Lewis -- the well-regarded bond salesman-cum-author/journalist/pundit extraordinaire -- spoke at an event Monday sponsored by Sungard, which provides software and consults with financial-services firms.

Essentially, what one could infer from his discussion was that leadership lacked sophistication and knowledge during his time in the industry. Now that leaders are backed by data and Ivy League degrees, they lack the "gut feelings" that drove former industry titans to follow the right path or create markets that never existed before.

The situation is apparently so severe that the people in charge of figuring out how to reform the financial system are asking Lewis for advice, despite the fact that he hasn't worked directly in financial services for more than 20 years.

"It terrifies me," said Lewis, going on to explain that he preferred being able to "sleep at night" rather than tossing and turning over testimony as some of his peers have presumably done.

"They're trying to get their minds around the whole financial system," he went on, later adding: "They're knocking on my door because they don't trust anyone else, and that's even more troubling."

Lewis was referring to the fact that lawmakers had asked him to testify before at least one committee tackling financial-crisis issues. (Specifically, he mentioned Arlen Specter -- the Republican turned Democrat, who recently lost a primary race to compete in the fall -- having called him to seek cooperation.)