Johnathan Knee channels Rilke in admonishing young professionals to think twice about banking. Apparently, Knee thinks the young finance professionals are a shallow, thoughtless bunch, content to drift through the world, driven to and fro only by the winds stirred up by parental accomplishment wake-turbulence, unable to direct even a fraction of the introspective energy required to see past what is effectively a simple, single-line, plotted course mapped out more by peer pressure and lack of true vision than any kind of real drive.
He paints the neo-financier class as too disaffected to even rise to the level of fickle. Too dull to exhibit real independence. Too competitive to wonder about self. Too lost to find the elusive goal of deep, self-fulfillment, at least of the sort required to bring even a modicum of contentment to existence.
I suppose Knee also expects the neo-financiers are too focused on money to pull very hard on the rudder. He doesn't speak these words, but the undercurrents are clear enough. That word "money" makes not a single appearance in his piece suggests he thinks it important to deemphasize it to the neo-financiers, even only if implicitly. This is, of course, a thinly veiled insult to his target audience, like the mother who manipulates the six year old with reverse psychology.
Though it all he exhibits that condescending, caregiver tone that exposes his attitude for what it really is, exactly paternal contempt neo-financiers fled to the open arms of finance to escape in the first place.
In all, his piece is a stinging indictment of neo-financiers, cutting edges dulled only by the background against which it is told: massive layoffs. He draws a cruel and mocking picture.
And every word of it is right on the money.
Must I Bank? [WSJ]
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 8:20AM
Most bankers I know are fairly dull people with little to no perspective or sense of loyalty to friends, clients or even themselves.
Mostly they are boring, self-absorbed people
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 8:36AM
@8:20, that is true for most people working on Wall-Street. They either become like that or don't survive on the street.
ONOH, when philosophy enters wall-street job market then we should assume we are fucked.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 8:53AM
The guy has a book to sell. Money, money, money.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 8:59AM
and his point is?
Posted by onetwo , Apr 23, 2008 9:07AM
I'm pretty sure there's a solid list of (humorous, satirical, and self depricating) reasons to bank...i humbly suggest you all list them in comments today. Could be pretty funny.
Posted by onetwo , Apr 23, 2008 9:07AM
Also, serious question, why are the studio analysts on CNBC world so hideous?!
Posted by big r , Apr 23, 2008 9:09AM
i dont really see private equity people being "loners"
Posted by ep , Apr 23, 2008 9:13AM
"Posted by big r, Apr 23, 2008 9:09AM
i dont really see private equity people being "loners"
HAH.
Posted by Master of None , Apr 23, 2008 9:15AM
Why I 'bank':
To learn from other people's mistakes.
To that end, the last two years have been quite productive.
When I'm done with that, I'll have other people 'bank' for me.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:18AM
Let's see, 1-2. Here's a first cut. I encourage the DB community to add to it at will.
Banking:
1) Money
2) More money
3) Girls, which turn into wives and children, which necessitate more of 1 and 2
4) Nice ties, suits, and mistresses, requiring more of the same
Hedge Funds, Private Equity, and other Investors:
1) These the only significant sectors in this economy where the highly functioning autistic individual can make lots of money. (See, e.g., Jim Simons, Steve Cohen, Warren Buffett, et al.)
2) and 3) See banking, above. (In my experience, these guys don't really care about nice clothes, unless they are Kravis or Schwarzman.)
Operations:
Surely no-one here at DB cares about this field, do we?
Funny, I cannot seem to find "personal fulfillment" anywhere on any of these lists. Hmm.
-- The Epicurean Dealmaker
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:23AM
Personal fulfillment comes from getting preppy chicks to do my sexual bidding on my command.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:29AM
This is so easy. People "bank" (I hate when its used as a verb like that)because it offers (or they think it offers) the best opportunities around for goodies taken out vs. effort put in. Lets face it, every job sucks. You may as well be well rewarded.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:33AM
Let me tell you about a woman I know. Ivy law school, interested in family law, battered women, abused children. Summer after first year of law school worked in the Bronx courts. She was left handed, the phone was screwed to her desk on the right side and couldn't be moved. She asked for a new pencil, they said she had to turn in her old. She got the old pencil, they said it wasn't worn down enough. A few more indignites and she decided fast to give up on her idealism. She wound up a partner at Skadden doing M&A. ITS THE MONEY STUPID.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:37AM
does she put out after a few drinks?
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:38AM
9:29 -- right on the money. Most every job in the world blows, sucking away your soul slowly day by day. At least we work at soul-sucking jobs that pay well. The only people that are better-off self-actualization wise as far as I'm concerned are entreprenuers, though many of them are so busy running their enterprises, they have even less life than bankers.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:43AM
It's practical proof of graduates being economically rational. When your choices are A) Corporate and B) Bank and B($)=3*A($) in NYC/Chi/SF as opposed to Sacramento/Philly/Trenton...at some point the offer becomes overwhelming (don't forget the $10K sign).
Excluding "good, wholesome people", those who jumped straight to HF/PE, trust-funbders, and entrepreneurs those who didn't bank did so because they couldn't bank.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:45AM
Coming from Jonathan Knee, this is the pot calling the kettle black. He left his job at an airline to spend his entire post business and law school career in banking. Douche bag.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 9:56AM
@9:37 She would eat you alive. She's fkn hot.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:01AM
@ 9:56...now you are forcing me to go to Skadden's web page to figure out who you are talking about.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:07AM
don't bother, she left and went to a PE firm.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:10AM
@10.01 -- 10.07's comment means she only exists for him in his delusional mind as he combs the internet in Mom's basement playing dungeons & dragons looking for ultimate porn.......
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:12AM
10:10 I swear its true. Went undergrad with her. She has a Kim Kattral (sp?) thing going on. Not everyones thing, but I think hot.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:16AM
yeah, kim kattral is not so hot.
anyway, wtf is ultimate porn?
Posted by GinNTonic , Apr 23, 2008 10:17AM
mmmm...Cougars
Posted by ep , Apr 23, 2008 10:20AM
@9:33 - Bunny Bear, is that you?
Posted by Random Banker , Apr 23, 2008 10:20AM
Epicurean Dealmaker, 1-2, Equity Road Apple
I call bullshit on these so called "points" with the exception of the aformentioned high functioning autistics, these jobs all require exactly the same skill set, ie: kissing your bosses ass.
Whether you find yourself as an associate in i-banking, PE, a hedge fund, OR a middle manager at Ford Motor Co your role consists of smiling while your boss takes credit for all of your work and you try to keep the shit to shoe level. Corporate America is a giant cluster fuck and the only reason people go into finance is so that they have to take it up the ass for a shorter period of time before they can tell everyone else to go fuck themselves.
If you're starting off as Stevie Cohen then you already have enough money that you shouldn't be wasting your time working anyway. Most people I know go into banking because they want to *become* Stevie Cohen, only to realize that their boss has a very odd gleam in their eye and may or may not be slipping female hormones into the redbull.
So the only question to ask yourself is how exactly you'd like to have your shit pushed in. Slow and steady over 40 years or hard and fast at the beginning of your career?
Posted by Anal_yst , Apr 23, 2008 10:22AM
please, more about this "ultimate porn", damnit don't hold out on me!
Posted by StupidEquityGuy , Apr 23, 2008 10:26AM
Random Banker,
I call Bullshit on your Bullshit call..
~SEG
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:28AM
@10:20 In a lot of cases its kissing your client's ass. Turning on the charm to pull fees/deals/assets/whatever out of them. But why be so introspective about all this. It beats building pyramids (seder memories). Life on balance is real good I would say.
Posted by HAM05 , Apr 23, 2008 10:29AM
ultimate porn exists only in theory and has never been observed. the act of observing it in nature causes it to change into penultimate porn, which is not as good.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:32AM
@Random--Folks at GM have some skills, such as building stuff that works and people want. Bankers basically play Houdini and switch money from one pocket to another and for that brief period no one is watching take a cut....
Think about that during your ONE HOUR commute to your retail bank job offering credit cards to the unwashed masses.
@anal - ask girl, she knows.....
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:33AM
You wanna see ultimate porn? Check out corbinfisher.com The guys are like every clean cut first or second year buff analyst that you work with. Oh and for you boys that are out of work, look for the "think you could be one of our models" button. GAnalYst
Posted by Jmoney , Apr 23, 2008 10:34AM
I'd assume that the bigshots have to be good at sales, analysis and operations.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:36AM
I would have believed you had you said Toyota, but GM? Come on. The problem is that they in fact don't have skills.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:37AM
I don't believe that your job defines who you are. Anyone who works in the arts is always attempting to show people in finance something they're missing. People in banking aren't the only ones that could use some real questions, but someone has to play the bad guy I guess.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 10:58AM
And speaking of talking, did anyone in a certain state hear Timmay on the radio this morning? Does Timmay ever sleep? He mentioned in the interview that he works 20 hours a day.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:05AM
@9:23 Great minds think alike.
Thadius R. Rogers
Financier/Evaluator of Talent
Posted by Anal_yst , Apr 23, 2008 11:07AM
I'm fairly certain Timmay takes a sh!t-load of adderal every day, possibly oh, I dunno, 60mgs+, and not the time release kind either
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:07AM
@9:09 Bankers are never alone. Rosie Palms is always there to make your day a little better.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:09AM
@10:37 One of the reasons that the arts are so extraordinary in NY is because of all the money that's thrown at them. Makes for an interesting relationship between the two and a smart division of labor. The singers sing, the patrons work hard at what they're good at but write checks. Why is that a problem or difficult to understand.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:14AM
@11:09 I bet a lot of people here contribute to the art of dancing at various strip clubs. Helping out those less fortunate dancers makes us all feel better. Many of these dancers are very, very talented. I know our contributions are greatly appreciated in the art community.
Thadius R. Rogers
Financer/Evaluator of Talent
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:28AM
@11:09 I think the arts industry (music, performance, film etc) preys upon finance industry to pay for projects that very rarely make a profit(if its supposed to).
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:33AM
@11.28 - How dare you mention money and art??? Art is priceless, which is why good implants are so expensive.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:41AM
@11:28 And some projects (most modern art comes to mind) are just scams. I was at an art auction a few years back and I overheard some supposedly famous artist joke privately about ripping off people because they were bidding on works that he considered just garbage and not worth anything but that bidders kept buying them just because they were from him. He said it took him like ten minutes to spill paint and yet people were spending outrageous prices for his works. It wasn't Damian Hirsch.
Posted by Anal_yst , Apr 23, 2008 11:50AM
With great $, comes not great taste...
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:54AM
I bank because... GREED, in other words, IS GOOD.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 11:57AM
Recent article on Salander O'Reilly gallery in NY said that people would spend millions on a painting with a handshake and no due diligence. They compared it to the army of attorneys that gets involved in a real estate transaction of a similar size. Art is all emotion. Hard to compare. But like everything, you need to remember that the buyer should beware.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 12:14PM
Got more hot pussy in 2001-2002 bust, than previous 10 yrs in bulge....
Bone up.
IB is good for $, not pussy
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 12:15PM
MDs are all sales & flash
nerds carry bags
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 12:38PM
For Mr. Pink and GAnalYst:
http://www.luxist.com/2008/04/22/the-changing-face-of-wall-street/
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 12:38PM
@11:41
Agreed, modern art is a scam
Hirst seems like a opportunistic guy, but not too smart to utter such truths at an art auction
Posted by Debter , Apr 23, 2008 12:52PM
Okay, back to this Knee guy. I think he may be worried that the neophyte bankers are slicker, more cynical, greedier than he is AND WILL FUCKIN' EAT HIM ALIVE.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 12:56PM
Splashed her face like a painter's radio. That's how I got my muse....
Ghost of Jackin Pollock
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 2:31PM
I love working as a boring long-only portfolio manager because I get to understand myriad business models and industries and vote with my company's billions on where the world's capital should be allocated. And to a certain extent, I get to set my own hours and be my own boss. I can't imagine the appeal of the sell-side--the money isn't *that* much better, and the risk of getting fired every downturn is ridiculous. It's an industry in secular decline, and you have to be at the beck and call of company's clients 24/7. Is that worth an extra $100K of fifty cent (thanks IRS) dollars?
Banking is different than research, but I think you can make the same arguments just replacing "sell-side analyst" with "i-banker" and "buy-side portfolio manager/analyst" with "industry management".
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 2:39PM
@2:31 Same business as you. The fact that you're minimizing the firing risk has me wondering. In my experience clients are very fickle and ready to leave when things go sour, which they invariably do sometimes. Retention is a big challenge. Maybe you're blessed with consistently superior returns (unlikely) or dumb clients (more likely).
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 3:14PM
@2.39 - are you gay? anal retention is very gay.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 3:19PM
@2:39 here. I thought I asked nicely, guess not. I repeat: you make it sound like it has the security of a job with the post office, when the reality is that clients bolt in seconds.
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2008 6:49PM
11.54 - if you can't get the quote right, don't bother. Piker.
Posted by Jmoney , Apr 23, 2008 8:16PM
Couldn't agree more with previous comment.
What the fuck is 'greed, in other words, is good'?
You should watch the movie a few more times, memorize the proper lines, and report back