>> If some Wall Streeters move on, perhaps other, more innovative professionals will take their place and build something a bit more durable..."You might get down to the core group that actually likes finance, and lose people who are coming just for the money,"..

Is this not precisely what happened when the last big bubble burst, the dot com era? People who had no real business being in technology or had no passion about programming left the industry leaving behind the ones that actually cared and were much more motivated and driven leading to greater innovation.

Taking a page from history, I say this is a good thing for Wall Street in the long run.