<p>I think the country was just awash in extra funds from the Bush/McCain tax cuts (actually, just a big loan from the Chinese and Saudis), and folks figured out there was a way to grab a piece of it, if only they could figure out how to package a high enough rate of return. Meanwhile everyone else got crushed.</p>
<p>Guess who has to pay the Chinese and Saudis back?</p>
<p>“Guess who has to pay the Chinese and Saudis back?”</p>
<p>Our trade deficit with Saudi Arabia is pretty small.</p>
<p>As far as the chinese go: they’ll never get repaid.</p>
<p>^ Heh, there was a rumor that Henry Paulson agreed to bail out Bear Stearns and Fannie/Freddie due to large investment from the Chinese…Lehman Bros. had less foreign investment, so they let it fail. The Chinese are calling the shots.</p>
<p>Soon we’ll all be renters/wage earners in our own country…colonized without physical invasion. </p>
<p>Just something to think about…</p>
<p>Most of the I-Bank careers are not careers but jobs, human capital, variable expenses.</p>
<p>“The Chinese are calling the shots.”</p>
<p>They really don’t have to. All they have to do is decide that they don’t want to accumulate debt in dollar-denominated currencies. Same with OPEC - all they have to do is decide that oil is pegged to another currency.</p>
<p>We’ve actually gotten a free ride by their not calling in their chips.</p>
<p>The defense lawyers are the prostitutes? I always thought it was the plaintiff’s lawyers!</p>
<p>^^ Agree. I resent the attack on lawyers are contributing nothing to society. I believe I have contributed quite a bit during my career, and I have worked in-house for corporations (even some very ethical ones).</p>
<p>“They really don’t have to. All they have to do is decide that they don’t want to accumulate debt in dollar-denominated currencies. Same with OPEC - all they have to do is decide that oil is pegged to another currency.”</p>
<p>China has over a billion people. That’s mouths that have to be fed and a lot of people that need jobs and salaries. Even if you have to make them up. They already have riots from time to time due to unrest. Throwing tens of millions or hundreds of millions of people out of work has political consequences.</p>
<p>“Agree. I resent the attack on lawyers are contributing nothing to society. I believe I have contributed quite a bit during my career, and I have worked in-house for corporations (even some very ethical ones).”</p>
<p>I’m generally okay with corporate lawyers. The area where I have a problem is IP law where you have IP firms buying up junk patents on the cheap and looking around for companies to extort money from. I think that some others may have problems with lawyers for companies out to screw their customers too but that’s not a general class of companies.</p>
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<p>I know three of D’s recent-grad friends who went into I-banking. All three of them are women. Does that somehow make them female male prostitutes?</p>
<p>When Mini, Allmusic and I agree, look out. Ibankers used to provide needed capital for US corporations. That got too boring not not profitable enough and then you saw a succession of economic failures all that had one thing in common–Ibankers were pulling the strings. Unwieldy conglomerates, the overhyped 80’s runup, the Dotcom bust, and now the mortgage meltdown and the collateral damage with that. </p>
<p>Maybe they all can find something more meaningful, useful and/or creative to do.</p>
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I don’t. I wouldn’t take it personally though, it’s a creation of our system. We’re just pawns looking out for ourselves.</p>
<p>This is a little deja-vuish for me. People thought I was crazy when I stayed with the utility I interned with when I graduated, while lower-ranked classmates took cushy Wall Street jobs. Then 1987 happened, and a lot of those classmates found themselves with no choice but to look elsewhere, while I was still with the utility (who by the way was paying for my MBA). Most of those who lost jobs went back to school to get MBA or second degrees on their own dime, some went into different fields altogether. Perhaps some of these Ibankers today could do the same. I don’t feel sorry for them.</p>
<p>Well most of the Ibankers work very long hours and get burned in the process. It is not an easy job. The competition is brutal.</p>
<p>Well, maybe now some of those bright, hard working undergrads will look at engineering, math, sciences or some other “difficult” major instead of running for the $150,000 starting salary in finance.<br>
I’m editing out my own comment about whether we need more people who can invent and build new stuff or more people who can figure out how to move money around for profit…</p>
<p>“Well most of the Ibankers work very long hours and get burned in the process. It is not an easy job.”</p>
<p>I worked 80 hours a week for about eight years in engineering.</p>
<p>There are people in all kinds of professions that work very long hours. How does being an IBanker compare to getting electricity back online in Houston or working on an oil rig? You can certainly get burned on those jobs too. Literally.</p>
<p>BCEagles :</p>
<p>Okay assume company A offers you $80,000 and company B offer you $150,000. You hate working compnay A but love to work in company B. which one will you choose. I will choose B over A and money is nice.</p>
<p>Now on other hand I hate in working for Company B, but love working in compnay A even though money is less. I will not last few years in company B even if it pays me more money.</p>
<p>Well when I stared working in wallmart cashier, I worked for 40 hours a week and went back to school in night time. I wanted something different and have math skills but poor communication skills as Arabic was my mother tongue. </p>
<p>I am sure that many people do not like math and scince, and would rather become phyical education teacher. They work hard too but one has to love in what they like doing if they have to work in any given industry be engineering, dog care taker (I know someone who pay a dog care taker $60,00), writer, football player or even greedy stupid-moral lacking I Bnaker :)</p>
<p>Competition is brutal to succeed.</p>
<p>Dragonmom:</p>
<p>Imagine living with a big family where family income is less than $50 US dollar month? It is very depressing but it is sometime a big motivation.</p>
<p>And sometime people are judgemental as they see the current situation but do not see the scar of hunger, deprivation and many things that come in life being poor. In other parts of world outside USA, only thing is hope, self motivation to get out of poverty. Not a pretty picture.</p>
<p>Getting back to Marite’s original post, I did just tell my (unemployed) recent grad “it’s a good thing you decided not to pursue investment banking”. (although I don’t know if any sector of this economy is too promising at the moment). I don’t know if it’s worse to be in his position, or to be up all night in some investment bank wondering if tomorrow is the day you’ll get your walking papers. I do feel bad for the recent graduates in particular who have barely hit the pavement and in some cases (Lehman, e.g.) are already out of a job. </p>
<p>But–the kids who get investment banking jobs are really bright and assertive and they will find something. Although I agree with what people have written about i-banking, I know several young adults who say the training and networking they acquired in their 2-year internships were so valuable. All of these particular people left after two years and are in government positions or other jobs now. So: what do people think the next area would be that would provide that kind of training in business, etc.? </p>
<p>I understand this a little bit because I graduated from college in the middle of a recession too (1974), when the common expression was about all the Ph.Ds driving taxis in Boston. I guess I am validating what people have written above when I say that as a result, I turned away from art history and decided to go to law school. I actually don’t think that was a bad decision since it turned out I really like practicing law, having a profession, and working for myself (which would be hard for an art historian to do I think). But, the economic realities of that period definitely shaped my life as it now will for my children, I guess…</p>