Monday, February 2, 2009

"Wall Street’s New Pariah Status"

This NY Times article identifies a few tensions between Wall Street and the rest of America. Everyone is looking for a little sympathy... and someone to blame:
A recent political cartoon in The Record, a newspaper in Hackensack, N.J., shows rats fleeing a sinking ship, labeled “Wall Street,” with treasure chests held aloft tagged “CEO” and “Bonus.” There are “I Hate Investment Banking” T-shirts for sale online. Last week on “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart rolled a clip of John A. Thain, Merrill Lynch’s chief executive, defending bonuses as a way to keep “your best people.”

“You don’t have ‘best people’!” Mr. Stewart shouted. “You lost $27 billion! Do you live in Bizarro World?”

All of this has taken a toll on the few industry veterans willing to discuss the subject...
Read the rest of article here and read about some more points of contention. It's quite insightful, and, at times, almost funny.

Why Women Aren’t C.E.O.s, According to Women Who Almost Were

"It’s not a pipeline problem. It’s about loneliness, competition and deeply rooted barriers." Read more in the NYT .