Wall Street: Long Arrogance, Short Humility

What's the difference between the like-able winners and the odious ones? One word: humility.

Scanning the morning papers, it's clear that Wall Street firms are long arrogance and short humility. (New York Times: "$3.4 Billion Profit at Goldman Revives Gilded Pay Options," Wall Street Journal:"Loan Paid, J.P. Morgan Swagger Returns," Financial Times: "Goldman staff set for record pay-outs".)

My friends at these institutions know that the public isn't pleased with huge compensation packages, but continue to ask me two questions: (1) "Don't they want us to succeed?" and (2) "Doesn't the public know that we didn't really need the TARP money-they forced us to take it!" (Note that these guys don't really know anyone in "the public" so they have to ask me!)

Yes, we want you to succeed and we know that not all of the TARP recipients were on the precipice of disaster or imminent collapse. That said, it's distasteful that you attribute your success only to your superior trading and management prowess, when any objective observer would plainly see that had the government not swooped in and saved the entire system, you would not be talking about profits of any size.

While the survivors on Wall Street should be pleased with their results, there is no need to parade around like proud (but clueless) peacocks. This is distasteful any time, but even more so when the recession has inflicted so much pain on Americans.

It's hard for us here in the public to admire the recovery in earnings when these organizations could not have done it without us. So here's a suggestion for firms that were direct beneficiaries of Uncle Sam's largesse -- start your earnings announcements with the following two sentences:

Before getting into the numbers, we must acknowledge that without US taxpayer money, both directly and throughout the entire financial system, our results could not have possibly been this good. We still have a lot of work to do, but just want to say thank you for all of the folks who never heard of a credit default swap or a sub-prime mortgage.

Humility won't eradicate years of arrogance, but along with some much-needed regulatory reform, it would go a long way to help all of us move beyond this painful period.

Image by Flickr User Jaroslaw Pocztarski, cc 2.0

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Comments

[Lorianne]

Goldman Sachs in Talks to Acquire Treasury Department
http://borowitzreport.com/

[menlopian]

Jill, from within the industry, this is a fair criticism.

[givesflack]

hey we lost.

[givesflack]

Money making is a game created by those with money to transform their money into more money. It has nothing at all to do with us. The recent economic downfall was an orchestration of the wealthy cartel to penalize us for not supporting free marketing of social security. As was the attack on Iraq because of Islamist lending philosophy regarding interest free loans and socialized economics and services (ergo neoconsevative support). Lets be real, the recent economic meltdown should have resulted in the end of the stock market. This was supposed to be the end of Wall Street and a socialist/real capitalist revival based on the truth about the Markets. From the Rothschilds to Goldman Sachs the game is set for those who hedge against society and come out winners every time while influencing government through monetary control. Wall Street has never had any credibility except to make money off society and the glamour that comes with it that they make us wish we could have but never will. It's not a Christian, Jewish or Muslim problem, but the more it continues the more the differences in philosophy will prevail.

[dadw5boys]

Humility ?

Where? When ?

The only rule on Wall Street that has changed today is : " Don't screw any insiders" !!!!

Humility would be a start instead of cold indifference.

[GEM-592]

Try as you might, you can't humanize the Goldman crowd in my eyes.

[petef59]

During the Clinton era welfare reform Democrats acquiesced to the Republican notion that welfare 'queens' needed tougher regulation to get the benefits previously handed to them with little question. The new "welfare queens" are all the financial industry boys/girls that need a little tough love to change their perverted entitlement psychosis. Suck it up boys 'n girls in Finance/Ba­nking/Wall Street--things are gonna be micromanged for you for a long while.

[Jill Schlesinger - Huffpost Blogger]

petef59: Pls let me borrow your term "Welfare Queens" for the whole bunch of them!

[jpinsatx]

REALITY CHECK... The issues are: 1) Pay Cuts, Not Bonuses. 2) Who to Terminate. 3) Who to Prosecute. Rewarding Incompetence and Corruption (with taxpayer money) is Total Insanity!

[PlasmaX]

These amoral people don't really care what anybody else feels or thinks. As long as the money keeps rolling into their personal bank accounts they consider themselves right.

[Wake-up]

If you think Washington cares, your crazy... they don't care and at least these companies provide growth, jobs and security for millions of people.

Need some reform, sure, it's time but to some how call making money evil is nuts... making money makes the world work.

[ozonekid]

Making money at the expense of the planet is nuts. Making money at the expense of the working class is nuts. Making money at my expense is nuts. You are nuts if you think I'm going to put up with it, and you are nuts if you think you can get away to some island with your money that you make at my expense...

[bighat]

Would the financial system failed w/o govt help. Some companies would have failed. But would not other companies step in and take over. Sadly, we do not know.

Besides we were told that the bailout of these companies were to keep unemployment from reaching 9%. On that basis the tarp funds and the stimulus has failed.

[Nomccain]

These profiteers are never going to do things the legal and right way unless they're forced to. Their reckless investments and greed nearly destroyed this nation and yet they remain arrogant and defiant of any regulations. It's time this President and this Congress made them sit up and take notice that this nation is not going to stand for anymore of this "under the rug dealing." De-regulation has never resulted in anything positive for the consumer or the average American and I wonder how long it will take those in Washington or the Republicans to learn this.

[luccas]

Can we get a representative in Congress or the Senate to call for forensic accounting of firms receiving TARP money, dating back 7 to 10 years, in the least, and the following records made public:

a) loan book records, detail showing where profit left firm

b) cash distributions (total dividends extracted from balance sheet annually prior to claiming they were under capitalized, and since that time)

c) number of subsidiary firms receiving cash from bank balance sheet, that may be paid back later, as a loan –

d) record of funds routed offshore per quarter, and back into company accounts the next quarter where the financial firm might be claiming a profit from trading, but is simply routing funds back to their firm, which were parked offshore during the crisis. Rotations going back 10 years can measure increased activity in moving money offshore; outside of U.S. accounts.

e) executive payout and bonus payment records, for prior 10 years to see if firms ever paid out that much money in any year prior to 2008 or in past down economic cycles.

f) shareholder registry to cross reference with Fed Board of Governors and Secretary of Treasury officers or policy makers, to see if regulators approving actions of Treasury, or acting to write new regulatory law, are also shareholders of banks benefiting from pass through operations (via past or present dividends/cash distributions)

[luccas]

.

http://freepdfhost.com/form_page.php?id=3205

Sample petition above. Print on legal size paper and fax.

[OLDDOG65]

The only way to correct the Wall Street Master of the Universe attitude is to adjust the tax code. Either roll back the Capital Gain Tax schedule to June 1979 or do away with Capital Gains as a separate earnings catagory and jack the top rate to 75% and scale down from there. We are rewarding reckless behaviour and if we don't get a handle on it the next crash will make this one look a glass of water in the Pacific Ocean.
If the financial guys won't let the government regulate how they do business, then regulate what they make. Turn the clock back on these guys to 1979 tax tables and see the change in how business is done.

[overd0g1]

Great. I guess it takes the only institution more arrogant than wall street to punish wall street: the Federal govt.

[bighat]

Amen

[tracerhaha1]

Who else is going to punish them? The average person on the street can;t do anything about it which means it is up to the government.

[Greyghost1]

Why would they quit doing what they're doing, making trillionsof $, the same trillions we're in debt, if we allow them to continue?

www.nextrevolution.net

Reading all these blogs makes me realize why & how they get away with it. We eat it up, hand over the $, cry about it but don't manup & put an end to it.

A perfect example of how campaign finance in Boise Id took place just befor ethe Presidentail eletcion. A paid, professional writer suddenly started getting on the blog, tried to manipuate & influence the people, no name calling, who are you, why don;t you put your real name out here, & we even hear hints of forcing the identifcation issue.

I was kicking campaign finance & received allkinds of negative feedback. The guy made the arguement he should be able to buy a full page add to support his candidate. My response was, what individual in America does that?

Point being. Individuals don't pay their hard earned cash, contribute to politicians, un-American corporations, agri corruption, banks, & defense contractors do so they can receive billions, no regulation, & tax cuts individuals absorb. What individual would argue in favor of campaign finance? Look at the current state of the nation & people. Look at Wall Street, banks, politicians, & all those in bed together.

The greatest scam in the world is documented, it's our history.

[desmo4]

I had a business. It took a couple years to develop, market and start selling. It was based on a unique product that no one new what to do with. When my supplier's saw my success, they stopped selling to us oem's and brought out their own product. It failed and they went chapter 11. No one bailed me out or my stupid greedy supplier. Their business failed and so did mine. So why did we bail out people who made a concerted effort to defraud not only Americans but many other countries around the world. Is our President his own man or is he bought and paid for like most of Washington politician? From the evidence the latter is more likely.

[Laserbeam]

Yes, it's amazing that those words have never crossed any lips on Wall Street. Amazing, galling, and enraging. Is it really so much to ask that they be just a tad courteous?

There are no manners anymore.

[Economike]

What do you expect from these people. The only thing they believe in is material gain. Of course they don't empathise with the rest of the people in this country who are going through hard times. They have a law of the jungle mindset that allows them to dismiss the unemployed or undecuated as clueless losers. As long as there raking it in all's right with the world and God on his throne. I hate it.

[ProfessorDuh]

True. They would watch the people they have impoverished die in the street, step right over them and mutter "Gee, that's a shame" without breaking their stride.