Arnold
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoBeing a banker doesn't seem like such a good job right now
September 16th 2008 03:08
I know you. You were a good student in high school, hardworking, decent with math. Not too nerdy, you got along with people just fine, and you showered on a reasonable basis.
Then you went to Uni, and while some of us went into sciences to chase equations and vials of bubbling DNA, and others spoke airily about history and literature, you went into commerce. "I wants me a job, boy!" you said.
It makes sense in Sydney. Commerce and finance were, for as long as you knew, in your 20-year life, the paths to big houses and expensive cars. And you liked that.
Today, though, as the American markets opened with the news that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch anxiously sold out to Bank of America, the stock markets crashed all over the world.
After Sept. 11, the Bush Administration buoyed the American economy with the thoughts of war machines and gilded missiles. Then the housing market went through the roof as financial firms got into the mortgage mess, investing money in devices that repackaged risky loans into falsely secure investments.
It's a scenario out of "Fight Club", where the credit collapse puts everyone back to zero.
Lehman has 25 000 employees around the world, including over 4 000 in London, which means a lot of bankers are going to be out there, joining the ranks of the Bear Stearns employees.
As more and more banks fail, there'll be more unemployed bankers out there. How are you really going to compete with them?
The best information I've heard on the subject comes from this radio podcast from This American Life, with Ira Glass and an investigation into where the market failed to protect itself. I listened to the entire thing and was shaken at the excess of greed and false confidence (found on BoingBoing).
This dude on CNBC went crazy, screaming at the Fed for not averting Bear Stearns' collapse.
Is there a silver lining? Yes - now we'll see house prices return to something approaching the real value of a house, as well as a needed contraction in the inflated economy.
Additionally, I've noticed here in Sydney that everyone's turned to the financial sector, since it offers the biggest jobs. The smartest Australian mathematicians, physicists and engineers all turn their backs on physical sciences to chase zeroes added to digital sums. Perhaps the inevitable unemployment in the banking sector will push more young students back towards careers that build things or think about things.
Then you went to Uni, and while some of us went into sciences to chase equations and vials of bubbling DNA, and others spoke airily about history and literature, you went into commerce. "I wants me a job, boy!" you said.
It makes sense in Sydney. Commerce and finance were, for as long as you knew, in your 20-year life, the paths to big houses and expensive cars. And you liked that.
Today, though, as the American markets opened with the news that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch anxiously sold out to Bank of America, the stock markets crashed all over the world.
"By the close of trading in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 504 points to 10,917 - its steepest points decline since the day the markets reopened after the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 and the sixth biggest drop in the index's history."
After Sept. 11, the Bush Administration buoyed the American economy with the thoughts of war machines and gilded missiles. Then the housing market went through the roof as financial firms got into the mortgage mess, investing money in devices that repackaged risky loans into falsely secure investments.
It's a scenario out of "Fight Club", where the credit collapse puts everyone back to zero.
Lehman has 25 000 employees around the world, including over 4 000 in London, which means a lot of bankers are going to be out there, joining the ranks of the Bear Stearns employees.
As more and more banks fail, there'll be more unemployed bankers out there. How are you really going to compete with them?
"Workers at the bank said management had still not made any announcements internally. "People are getting their resumes together, but it is not the best time to be looking for a job in financial services," said one man, who asked not to be named. "Dick Fuld probably held on too long. If something had been done a few months ago, we could probably have survived or we could have been acquired instead of going bankrupt.""
The best information I've heard on the subject comes from this radio podcast from This American Life, with Ira Glass and an investigation into where the market failed to protect itself. I listened to the entire thing and was shaken at the excess of greed and false confidence (found on BoingBoing).
This dude on CNBC went crazy, screaming at the Fed for not averting Bear Stearns' collapse.
Is there a silver lining? Yes - now we'll see house prices return to something approaching the real value of a house, as well as a needed contraction in the inflated economy.
Additionally, I've noticed here in Sydney that everyone's turned to the financial sector, since it offers the biggest jobs. The smartest Australian mathematicians, physicists and engineers all turn their backs on physical sciences to chase zeroes added to digital sums. Perhaps the inevitable unemployment in the banking sector will push more young students back towards careers that build things or think about things.
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Comment by Louie
Climate Forum
Climate Red
randomthoughts
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But yes I agree watching bankers squirm is a good feeling.....