Occupy Wall Street: John Paulson speaks out

The Occupy Wall Street movement certainly has the attention of Wall Street. 

Check out what billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson said today in a statement:

“Instead of vilifying our most successful businesses, we should be supporting them and encouraging them to remain in New York City and continue to grow,” Paulson said in a statement, as reported by the Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal blog. 

Paulson had plenty more to say in his statement:

“The top 1% of New Yorkers pay over 40% of all income taxes, providing huge benefits to everyone in our city and state. Paulson & Co. and its employees have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in New York City and New York State taxes in recent years and have created over 100 high paying jobs in New York City since its formation.

New York currently has the highest income taxes of any state in the country and thousands of businesses have fled New York to states with no income taxes such as Florida, Texas and Nevada, or moved offshore.

Instead of vilifying our most successful businesses, we should be supporting them and encouraging them to remain in New York City and continue to grow.”

That statement — which pretty sums up the general mood on Wall Street and the attitudes of many other financial industry workers — comes on a day when protesters marched on a tour of "rich guy's houses" in New York City's Upper East Side.

Meanwhile, the protests continue.

They're also beginning to take on a global flavor.

Here's some advice that protest leaders in Egypt, Syria and Tunisia are offering to their American counterparts.

And here's a quick rundown of the protests here in Boston, where people are also taking their cue from the Arab Spring. 

For more from Thomas Mucha on Twitter: Follow @thomaswmucha