pretend giant swingers with no dreams or sports teams of their own.

I make more money than you!

chumps.

Could Americans enjoy the same standard of living that they do now if every art history major committed suicide? likely. Could they enjoy the same standard of living if every person in the financial industry killed themselves? Not a chance

Well, given the disparity of wealth in this country and how the middle class owes more than it owns, the standard of living could actually improve if the American finance industry, well, maybe not disappeared, but downsized a little.

For the last time, bankers don't "make" anything. They are a speed bump on the capitalist road althouth hey like to tell you that they grease the wheels of capitalism. If there is money flowing anywhere they try to steal a cut of it.

Comparing an M&A banker to a real estate broker is about right. Neither of them is going to get paid unless a deal is made. So just how unbiased do you think their advice is? At least you can live in house. I bet Time Warner wished they never met the banker that gave the thumbs up to being acquired by AOL. Of course, they can just reset their options to a lower price and get an eight figure bonus anyway.

And you can thank the hedge fund crowd for about $15 dollars on the price of a barrel of oil. Be grateful most of you don't own car.

and when the CLOs implode in the next downturn it's going to make the S&L debacle look like a tea party.

i'm not impressed by bankers and traders. they simply push money around from one place to another, and take a percentage. like the mafia.

if this were the french revolution, it'd be off with their heads!

traders also take on a lot more risk than ibankers, so you can lose a lot

plus it's not til 4pm anymore, most of them trade beyond NYSE hours in the after and foreign markets

there is a huge difference btwn I-bankers and traders. I-bankers may work 100 hours a week, etc. Traders work 7.30AM til 4pm and go home. No overtime, no late nights. EVER. and they still make a ton of money. i am not one of them, but if i was, i'd rather be the trader then the I-banker. great pay and great hours, cocky attitude notwithstanding.

William may be bragging a bit but the rest of you are just haters. So what they get huge bonuses, they make huge amounts of money for people. I-Bankers are a drain on society? Come on! Do you people really believe this? And an "oh you must love Ayn Rand comment"? Never heard that comeback before...

lol William your such a douche.

175K? My assistant made near that (after bonus). You guys in liberal arts land dont have a clue.

Pedestrian, I'm a lawyer, but I certainly don't read Ayn Rand. Not to mention that investment bankers love to talk about what suckers lawyers are because they work for peanuts.

i can think of a long list of people who contribute far less to society than ibankers...e.g., apartment brokers, half of the legal community, and this years Yankees

considering I'll most likely be retiring on my investments tied to the stock market rather than what's left in social security...as long as these bankers can keep my portfolio up, let them have their bonuses

the following poem/song has been sung my the greats of the music industry; ben harper, joan baez, johnny cash, jeff buckley and pete seeger to name a few.

words to live by:

--

Satisfied Mind

How many times have you heard someone say

"If I had his money, I could do things my way?"

Little they know that it's so hard to find

One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind.

Once I was winning in fortune and fame

Everything that I dreamed for to get a start in life's game

Suddenly it happened, I lost every dime

But I'm richer by far with a satisfied mind

Money can't buy back your youth when you're old

Or a friend when you're lonely, or a love that's grown cold

The wealthiest person is a pauper at times

Compared to the man with a satisfied mind

When my life is ended, my time has run out

My trials and my loved ones, I'll leave them no doubt

But one thing's for certain, when it comes my time

I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind.

—Red Hayes and Jack Rhodes

Hey Warren, could you hurry up with my latte? Thanks.

Samantha T, aren't you a lawyer? You really shouldn't be crashing the ragging-on-professions party here.

Well said reckoning.

most ibankers work 100+ hours a week, so a large bonus seems justified...not to mention ALL bonuses are taxed at upwards to 50%, so they also probably make a larger financial contribution than most of us do

If you define "contribution" as paying taxes. You apparently don't question the source of the income. I suppose that's pretty easy when you live in New York and don't see the mess that this style of capitalism has made of the rest of the US and much of the world.

And I know you're knee-jerk retort is going to be that I am jealous of the paycheck. I am not. I know people far wealthier than the average New York I-banker - people that actually earned or their wealth through building companies that create jobs and things of value. Investment banking is the furthest thing from an open market that can still be called capitalism. The banking scene is essentially an oligopoly where conflict of interest means nothing. How many industries do you know where you could act as advisor to both sides of a acquisition AND own a piece of the target company? And I did work in M&A for three years before my conscience finally kicked in.

pretty spot on warren. will, i don't think you making 5mil a year (although you are probably an analyst or something who makes more like 175k) means you will be happy or unhappy. it has more to do with self-importance and the 100 hour work weeks. can someone really sit back and tell us they sometimes work 80 or 100 hours a week but they have a great marriage and are satisfied with how they're raising their kid and the relationship they have with the kid? i suppose anything's possible, but i would be surprised

You completely miss the point, Will. Nobody thinks that money causes or doesn't cause unhappiness. What people like you will never be able to understand is that money is simply a facilitator to do things that actually matter. people who produce and create things contribute to society. the investment community is a parasite that leeches off of everybody else.

The fact that you chumps think that making money causes unhappiness shows what jealous losers you are. For the record, I am married and have a child. Life is good, there are many things to worry about in life and I'm glad that money isn't one of them. And about the car, a proper midlife crisis car is about $130K these days.

Merry Christmas and remember to pay the rent - chumps.