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The judge equated a successful new medium of finance — the high-yield bond business — with "greed." And in the case of Milken, and other entrepreneurs who struck it rich in the 1980s, his success was considered a sign of greed and not viewed within the context of the value added to the economy or to the financial markets. The recent federal-budget swing from deficit to surplus could be characterized as a sign of the emergence of a new decade of greed — but this time it's the government that appears greedy. An ebullient economy and restraint on government spending in the 1990s triggered a change in the federal budget from a monumental deficit approaching $300 billion to a budget surplus of over $200 billion. It was a swing of over one-half trillion dollars in eight years. Politicians and their economic advisers were ebullient over the potential for a budget surplus in the trillions of dollars over the first decade of the 21st century. There were going to be surpluses as far as the eye could see. The tax windfall brought about by the good economic times was expected to solve the Social Security problem and allow for the payoff of the entire government debt within a few years. The government announced the suspension of the sale of 30-year government bonds as a manifestation of the sound financial practices associated with the prospect for a continuing budget surplus. However, few politicians understood the budget surplus as the by-product of an overtaxed society. The two tax cuts proposed by the president and implemented by Congress last year did little to return excess tax revenues to the taxpayer. Then, the onset of the 2001 recession and the terrorist attacks appeared to put the budget back into deficit and stall the aggressive spending plans of the Congress. Or one would think. The budget-surplus seed was planted in the late 1990s, and the spending plans aren't subsiding despite our shift back to deficit. A new form of political greed is emerging on Capitol Hill. One of the more egregious examples of this new government greed is the pending overwhelming passage of a new farm bill. Here is a key excerpt from the Wall Street Journal highlighting one characteristic of the coming decade of government greed:
While corporate management survives because it produces profits for shareholders, politicians survive only if they get re-elected. Michael Milken's success was, in part, tied to the fact that he made other people rich. He provided the financing mechanism that allowed many companies to grow in an environment where other financiers turned down the opportunity. For this success, Milken and Drexel Burnham were well paid. Yet, in the eyes of many, these successes were a sign of greed, not entrepreneurial success. In the end, both Milken and Drexel Burnham paid the price for their perceived greed. There is an enormous difference when considering the motives of politicians in an election year. Even though there is some uncertainty in getting re-elected (i.e., keeping one's job), the one sure way of holding a seat is to pass legislation that redistributes wealth to the Americans who can make a difference in the voting booth. Since the Midwest is considered to hold the swing votes for control of Congress in November, there is no end to the redistribution of wealth to the voters in this region. Today, Republicans and Democrats on the Hill are equally involved in the dirty business of redistributing wealth for their own selfish needs. At least when Milken was being greedy, he didn't stick it to the taxpayers.
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the infamous trial of Michael Milken, the high-yield bond guru, presiding
judge Kimba Wood characterized the 1980s as the "Decade of Greed."
(Yes, this is the same judge that got caught in the nanny-gate scandal.)
The inference, I assume, was to the moneymaking machine that was Michael
Milken and Drexel Burnham, the Wall Street brokerage firm that financed
the efforts of Milken in building the high-yield bond business. 
