The point is that the older employees are hazing the new ones to limit entry into the company. Employment within finance is declining sharply. It would not be s

The point is that the older employees are hazing the new ones to limit entry into the company. Employment within finance is declining sharply. It would not be shocking if it returns to its low level of prestige that it was at before the 1980s. I would say that it's not a great sign that Ivy types are looking to recreate the happy-slappy Greenspan years in another sector. My father worked for Goldman in the 1990s, up to a relatively high level. He was home at 7 pm each day and would often eat breakfast with us before school, and he rode the subway to work. Now, he would also often be commuting cross-continent and be gone for all the weekdays at a time, and would have to spend some time reading reports and financial journals on weekends, but still he never went through the sort of fraternity absurdities that seem common now, even when he started in the industry in his early 30s. Also, clients have more options now and can demand more from the banks -- their relative bargaining position is weaker. Being that they're all public companies now rather than partnerships, the entire culture has shifted, and they're under more performance pressure. The raw dollar amounts are much higher, but the core business model is eroding. OK, if you're a client, do you want to have your account handled by some frenetic kid on amphetamines working 100 hours a week, or do you want it handled by someone with class who is going to likely be with the firm for the rest of his life? Junior on speed is going to die of a heart attack at 27 and might jump to another firm or a hedge fund. Taking your confidential information with him in his head to some other firm who might use that information against you some day. Why would you trust your business with a team of substance-enhanced Juniors with impeccable academic credentials? Like Bill Solomon recently said on his 100th birthday (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-02/billy-salomon-turns-100-as-flash-trades-replace-handshake.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-02/billy-salomon-turns...): "When you are a partnership there is a different atmosphere,” Salomon said. “You’re working for each other.” That discipline helped instill a culture where clients trusted their advisers, he said." That trust is gone, and it can't be replaced by just throwing amphetamine-fueled-all-nighters at the problem.