Bankers are such a sensitive bunch. The New York Times reports that with the protests now going on in Wall Street, all the ultra-rich bankers, hedge fund managers and private equity executives have called in security firms to protect their wealth and keep them safe.
They are probably thinking about comments like those made by celebrity Roseanne Barr who has suggested bringing back the guillotine and sending the rest off to re-education camps.
The bankers are trying to defend themselves. James Altucher at Freakonomics says everyone is to blame, and that includes greedy investors. "Meanwhile, please stop being so angry. Stop "occupying" places. Let's be friendly and focus on solutions. Let's be creative and focus on how we can use that energy for invention, innovation, and ultimately jobs."
With US unemployment locked in at 9.1 per cent and the gap between rich and poor growing, that's unlikely to cut much ice.
"There was a period where you could put on the Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs sweatshirt and wear it to the beach," Brad Hintz, a bank analyst who was previously the chief financial officer at Lehman Bros told the Los Angeles Times. "There are a lot of people whose careers will be foreshortened," Hintz said. "Although Wall Street is very well paid, it is also facing the pains".
That might be true, but it has to be said that the bankers aren't facing the same sort of pains as, say, workers in the auto industry
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