Some stories make so much sense when you read them that you wonder why you didn't see them coming. One such story appeared recently in the New York Times—Wall St. Hiring in Anticipation of an Economic Recovery.
While much of the country remains fixated on the bleak employment picture, hiring is beginning to pick up in the place that led the economy into recession — Wall Street.
The shift underscores the remarkable recovery of the biggest banks and brokerage firms since Washington rescued them in the fall of 2008, and follows the huge rebound in profits for members of the New York Stock Exchange, which totaled $61.4 billion in 2009, the most ever. Since employment bottomed out in February, New York securities firms have added nearly 2,000 jobs, a trend that is also playing out nationwide at financial companies, commodity contract traders and investment firms.
Having lived through the debacle of the last 15 years, I am struck (almost) speechless upon reading this text. What further proof do we require that nothing has changed? What further proof do we require that Financial interests run the Empire? What further proof do we require that corruption is rampant, that the fix is in? What further proof do we require that wise & fair governance was thrown out the window a long, long time ago?
No further proof is needed, but the Times gives it to us anyway.
Lehman disappeared, Bear Sterns disappeared, Merrill Lynch was absorbed, etc. but Wall Street Marches On
As hiring has picked up on Wall Street, salary packages recalling the boom years are reappearing at the most senior levels. Richard Stein, president of Global Sage, an executive search firm, said corporate clients had offered compensation packages worth more than $1 million annually to 12 candidates in recent weeks.
“The offers are not near where they were in 2006, but there is still a war for talent,” he said. “Everyone thought the ice age had returned, but the thaw has come and we’re in catch-up mode"...
Goldman Sachs added 600 jobs worldwide in the first quarter, while JPMorgan's investment bank has hired slightly more than 2,000 people globally since the beginning of the year.
Closer to home, Credit Suisse’s investment bank, based in New York, filled 600 positions in the first quarter, with a significant portion in New York. Deutche Bank has hired 414 people in New York, including 98 directors and managing directors since the start of the year.
Hiring is also picking up at boutique firms and at smaller foreign banks seeking a beachhead in New York.
The only good news here is that there is no dearth of places where you can throw up if you're feeling a bit queasy just now. If you thought that Goldman Sachs paying a $550 million fine to the SEC was some sort of victory, think again. I will quote one more short passage from the Times—
“I think we’re seeing some hiring in anticipation of better times,” said Rae Rosen, a regional economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “Wall Street typically hires in anticipation of the recovery, and there is a sense that the economy has bottomed out and is slowly improving.”
What recovery? This week alone, we learned that the inventories blip in GDP growth is over. (Inventory restocking accounted for 2/3rds of the 2.7% growth in GDP during the first quarter.) Retail sales slumped for the second month in a row. Etc. But why would Wall Street give a shit what's happening on Main Street? That's a convenient fiction. Those in The Money World could care less about how we're faring in the Real World—up to a point. There is one important sense in which Wall Street is anticipating better times.
Wall Street is waiting for that day when they will be able to profit from, and eventually destroy, any recovery we might have. This is what parasites do. Asset bubbles must be inflated, Ponzi Schemes initiated, suckers ripped off, etc. You know how it works. If you want some righteous indignation about a society by, of, and for the rich, read Bob Herbert's column in the Times.
Times are hard and they're going to get worse. I wrote a post called All We Have Is Each Other. I recommend reading it if you haven't already done so, or re-reading it if you have. Even with the sociopaths in charge, life is worth living, but making life worthwhile in a deteriorating environment requires effort and awareness.
Let the assholes have their money—there's nothing we can do about it anyway. Don't be the one they're stealing it from. Don't be a victim. Money is not the be all and end all of life. Yes, money provides convenience and some of the "finer things" in life, but in the end conspicuous consumption is a fool's game. Rise above it. When Wall Street is making a comeback, you know that's what life is telling you to do.
Americans were sold a truly non-partisan line of BS by both political parties in bailing out Wall St Financials and the Banks..and the Insurers..ad infinitum. We don't need (and never have!) a Financial Reform Bill to just say no to bailouts. Bailouts have nothing to do with Capitalism..and everything to do with cronyism.
Wall St. though, to disagree somewhat with Dave, can't create real asset bubbles..for that you must have the assistance and funding of a Central Bank and political heft. Think Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac..both political creations..funded by cheap money and a housing "don't ask..don't tell.." loan policy. So what to do??
Wall St is about 6 weeks from being up the creek again..just in time for the return to school! DON'T buy or believe ANYTHING they tell you..and don't stand for ANY politician telling you they need another handout so the economy won't implode. That already happened!
Posted by: Greg Pinelli | 07/17/2010 at 06:13 PM