Hatred Aimed At Banks

Bankers seem to have a sweet deal. No matter how incompetent they are, no matter how bloody minded their business practices, no matter how dumb their decisions and how stupid their loans, they always get government to bail them out of their mistakes.

Banks argue that they are just so very important for the economy. That they are indispensable. That an economy will crash without adequate credit.

We've extended over a trillion dollars to shore up the housing market and the lending market yet very few people and businesses can get loans any more.

From the New York Times: Bill George, a Harvard business professor and the author of “7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis,” argues that we should not punish healthy banks for the sins of failed banks.

Throughout the country, the anger at bankers is palpable. This isn’t a narrow populist phenomenon; rather, it reflects widespread mistrust in the nation’s financial institutions. A “Bank Anger” tour has percolated across the blogosphere. “I Hate Banks” yields 70,000 Google Index results.

The vitriol is not restricted to the blogosphere. Mainstream commentators have roundly condemned financial institutions. Keith Olbermann of MSNBC rants: “Break up the banks. Regulate the financial industries to within an inch of their existences.”

Members of Congress are also piling on. Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, says big banks are “discredited” on Capitol Hill. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, has moved to impose limits on bonuses without limiting salaries. In response, the boards of the American International Group and Wells Fargo just increased their chief executives’ salaries to record levels.

The frustration of Americans is understandable. It is natural for citizens struggling to find jobs, avoid excess interest charges on unpaid credit card bills, and live off their shrinking 401(k)s to ventilate anger against bankers and their compensation excesses.