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Wall Street Whining!

John Del Signore

Published Apr 20, 2009

Modified Apr 20, 2009

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John Del Signore

Published Apr 20, 2009

Modified Apr 20, 2009

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It's not fair! For years and years the financial industry helped everybody live beyond their means, asking relatively little in return, and now that everything's gone sideways there's a big mob gathered with pitchforks and torches demanding taxes on the rich, and salary caps, and heads on sticks. Did you ever for one second think about how hard all this must be on the bankers? Well, this week NY Mag's Gabriel Sherman lends a sympathetic ear to some of Wall Street's fallen titans, many of whom were more than willing to (anonymously) take a ride on the whaaambulance. Here are some of the greatest hits:

"I’m not giving to charity this year!" declares a hedge-fund analyst when asked about Obama’s planned tax increases. "When people ask me for money, I tell them, ‘If you want me to give you money, send a letter to my senator asking for my taxes to be lowered.’ I feel so much less generous right now. If I have to adopt twenty poor families, I want a thank-you note and an update on their lives. At least Sally Struthers gives you an update."
In an e-mail, one "irate Citigroup executive" vents to a colleague: "No offense to Middle America, but if someone went to Columbia or Wharton, [even if] their company is a fumbling, mismanaged bank, why should they all of a sudden be paid the same as the guy down the block who delivers restaurant supplies for Sysco out of a huge, shiny truck?"
A former Bear Stearns senior managing director whines, "We’re in a hypercapitalistic society. No one complains when Julia Roberts pulls down $25 million per movie or A-Rod has a $300 million guarantee. We have ex-presidents who cash in on their presidencies. Our whole moral compass has shifted about what’s acceptable or not acceptable. Honestly, you can pick on Wall Street all you want, I don’t think it’s fair."
Nicholas Cacciola, a 44-year-old executive at a financial-services firm, whimpers, "If you really take a look at what Obama is promising, it’s frightening. He’s punishing you for doing better. He doesn’t want to have any wealth creation—it’s wealth distribution. Why are you being punished for making a lot of money? You can’t live in New York and have kids and send them to school on $75,000. And you have the Obama administration suggesting that. That was a very populist thing that Obama said. He’s being disingenuous. He knows that you can’t live in New York on $75,000."
And one former JPMorgan VP complains that, "You wear a nice suit on the subway, and people look at you," while a mortgage-investment banker implores, "Suddenly, the simple fact I work on Wall Street means that I’m a bad person? You know, I lost my job. I’m more of a victim."

Oh, it's a heart wrenching read. Grab a box of Kleenex, tune up your tiny violins and read the whole jeremiad here.

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financial firms

new york magazine

wall street

whining

John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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