this is an article written by michael lewis (author of liar's poker for you finance buffs) about the end of the wall street era. he talks about liar's poker as a book that was supposed to warn the rising workforce of the meaningless jobs of becoming a small cog in a giant corporate machine, to 'deny the offer from merrill and go out to sea'.
of course, all of my finance friends recommended the book as a quick look inside the world of finance, world of investment banks. lewis intended to raise awareness of the misguided, morally bankrupt realm of deal making and risk taking. if anything, the grandiose lives of the bankers mixed with the crude, collegiate environment propelled finance's appeal greatly. stories of bankers who owned everything, could do whatever they wanted, only glorified the jobs in finance.
until now, when the world of finance finally crumbled on itself from its overdose on 'hubris'. the huge bonuses, as well as a life of material wealth and financial stability, attracted the smartest minds from all over the world. more and more undergraduate business programs were established to cater to the new demand of going into finance and getting a job on wall street. one in four people you meet are studying for a degree in finance or economics. but now, the supply of qualified interns dwarfs its respective demand. and all of those bright students who caved to money and power (both of which are not sustainable, both defined by those surrounding you) instead of going into art, engineering, natural sciences, are now getting the short end of the stick: getting a finance job but not living its corresponding life circa 1980s-2000s, or not even getting a job at all.
balls.
but maybe it is our fault for allowing ourselves to be blinded by wall street's promise of material wealth. and this is what we get, the financial crisis and a blunt reality check telling us that there is more to life than investment banking at goldman sachs, that money doesn't equate to happiness.
-andy
1 comment:
How does this make sense: "because of the financial collapse, I see that money doesn't equal happiness"?
That's just reiterating that happiness or some form of good is dependent on functioning markets and, consequently, good jobs (with good salaries / lifestyle / etc.). Even if you're implying that the risk of getting those jobs is much higher now, or that those jobs are no longer as we've envisioned, you're conveying that the jobs (as we've envisioned) are desirable. I'm not saying that the things you tie to "finance" like money and power (power is a stretch) will indeed lead to happiness or that they should be desired. I'm just saying it doesn't make sense to draw the conclusions you did from the financial collapse. If finance is not something you want to do, there are probably other inherent reasons that have nothing to do with the current market.
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