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Evil? Maybe not. Hard working? Quite possibly. But almost definitely overpaid. How much value does the banking industry really create? A whole lot of what this

by api 15y ago

Evil? Maybe not. Hard working? Quite possibly. But almost definitely overpaid. How much value does the banking industry really create? A whole lot of what this industry does could be replaced by algorithms and put on autopilot. Maybe I'm ignorant, but it really looks to me that the smart and courageous decisions about allocating capital are being made by entrepreneurs, angel investors, and wealthy individuals who earned their money in value-producing industries (Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk come to mind). The banking industry seems to just squat over a lot of toll bridges, and doesn't seem to even do much in the way of bridge maintenance.

michaelochurch 15y ago
Evil? Maybe not. Hard working? Quite possibly. But almost definitely overpaid. Absolutely, and most of them will admit as much. The banking industry seems to just squat over a lot of toll bridges, and doesn't seem to even do much in the way of bridge maintenance. I have a lot more respect for traders, quants, and quant developers (who do an honest job, if a socially useless one) than for investment bankers ("eye-wankers") and private equity douches.
leot 15y ago
It's the many great leaders that end up transforming lives and countries, and so the tragedy of overcompensation in the finance industry is how it has attracted-away the world's smartest and most charismatic. Now these elite college grads hang out with each other instead of mentoring, inspiring, and setting an example for others. Instead of leading teams to accomplish great things, they are figuring out how best to fool the next guy. Large-scale prosperity is far more likely when more America's smartest and most charismatic are leading instead of wheeling-and-dealing. Decline was inevitable as soon as high-finance ceased being the province of the boring and bookish.

by api 15y ago

michaelochurch 15y ago

Evil? Maybe not. Hard working? Quite possibly. But almost definitely overpaid. Absolutely, and most of them will admit as much. The banking industry seems to just squat over a lot of toll bridges, and doesn't seem to even do much in the way of bridge maintenance. I have a lot more respect for traders, quants, and quant developers (who do an honest job, if a socially useless one) than for investment bankers ("eye-wankers") and private equity douches.

leot 15y ago

It's the many great leaders that end up transforming lives and countries, and so the tragedy of overcompensation in the finance industry is how it has attracted-away the world's smartest and most charismatic. Now these elite college grads hang out with each other instead of mentoring, inspiring, and setting an example for others. Instead of leading teams to accomplish great things, they are figuring out how best to fool the next guy. Large-scale prosperity is far more likely when more America's smartest and most charismatic are leading instead of wheeling-and-dealing. Decline was inevitable as soon as high-finance ceased being the province of the boring and bookish.