Why do people hate bankers?

[azorne]

This whole "bankers are evil scum who do no good" is really pissing me off, primarily because I want to be a banker, and because I've worked at a bank. The bankers I know all have Ivy League/MIT/Stanford degrees, and they're some of the smartest people I've had the fortune to meet.

So teens of Virtual Teen, can you please explain why they're so frowned upon by today's society?

Update: I'm referring to Wall Streeters; I've interned at GS in NY.

[workingatperfect]

Normally when people say they hate bankers, they mean the big ones. Not the ones working at your local bank. They're talking about Wall Street bankers. Wells Fargo, the banks that have all the power. Those bankers have a reputation of being corrupt. If I need to explain that, well, you need to pay more attention, watch the news more.

[azorne]

I do watch the news, and yes, I was referring to Wall Street. Most of them have had no hand the crash; most of the bitchin' is about their salaries.

[xDarkAngelx]

I guess for me at least in the UK when the country went into recession it was the banks fault for lending and whatnot, and yet on top of the high salary they still got a high bonus or even a bonus was too much in my opinion. So it's like rewarding them for it.

[azorne]

Firstly, Wall Street bankers don't lend money. Not unless you're already worth billions. Secondly, credit is like selling knives. Anyone can commit suicide with a knife, but does that mean that we outlaw knives being sold?

[Maverick]

People got mad at banks when they nearly got bankrupt in the 2007 and 2008 recession and got bailed out by the tax payers... then they gave themselves big bonuses and fancy vacations. It was seen as unfair that the banks were able to privatize the gains they made but socialize the losses on the people.

Another reason people get mad at banks is that they charge consumers tons of fees for holding their money and they feel like they are consistently getting nickled and dimed of their hard earned money when the bank already makes money off of interest from loaning its depositor's money out.

I don't like to use banks at all. I switched to a credit union years ago and never looked back. I get tired of paying a fee for every little thing.

[Atonement]

Normally when people say they hate bankers, they mean the big ones. Not the ones working at your local bank. They're talking about Wall Street bankers. Wells Fargo, the banks that have all the power. Those bankers have a reputation of being corrupt. If I need to explain that, well, you need to pay more attention, watch the news more.
I concur with this. When people hate "bankers" they don't have Mr. Johnson down the street at their local bank. They hate the CEOs of giant banks that dominate the financial sector.

The banking industry in places like Wall Street is simply breeding ground for corruption and practices that piss people off.

Remember the 2008 housing collapse in the USA? Right, it was caused basically because bankers wanted to buy and sell faster so they stopped giving a shit about the safety of loans and just let it fall apart so they could make some money.

Why do we call them scum? Because these people are. They take people's livelihood and gamble with it on big scales.

[azorne]

People got mad at banks when they nearly got bankrupt in the 2007 and 2008 recession and got bailed out by the tax payers... then they gave themselves big bonuses and fancy vacations. It was seen as unfair that the banks were able to privatize the gains they made but socialize the losses on the people.

Another reason people get mad at banks is that they charge consumers tons of fees for holding their money and they feel like they are consistently getting nickled and dimed of their hard earned money when the bank already makes money off of interest from loaning its depositor's money out.

I don't like to use banks at all. I switched to a credit union years ago and never looked back. I get tired of paying a fee for every little thing.

You're confusing two major types of banking. Bankers on Wall Street don't charge you for your transactions, those are the common bankers down the street. Also, the people that got those bonuses were in now way involved in the recession. Consider this. At Wells Fargo, the largest subprime lender, only 1000 people on 160,000 were responsible for subprime lending. The ones enjoying their bonuses today deserve it; they've brought back business that has offset other losses.

[azorne]

I concur with this. When people hate "bankers" they don't have Mr. Johnson down the street at their local bank. They hate the CEOs of giant banks that dominate the financial sector.

The banking industry in places like Wall Street is simply breeding ground for corruption and practices that piss people off.

Remember the 2008 housing collapse in the USA? Right, it was caused basically because bankers wanted to buy and sell faster so they stopped giving a shit about the safety of loans and just let it fall apart so they could make some money.

Why do we call them scum? Because these people are. They take people's livelihood and gamble with it on big scales.

Okay, you've got your facts wrong, the recession wasn't caused by people buying and selling faster; you might've gotten that bit of misinformation from the popular media. The recession was caused because a lot of people took loans they couldn't afford to take and then decided to default on them.

Also, firstly bankers don't gamble with livelihoods or manage other people's money, that's what traders do. Secondly, the heart of American capitalism is a free market: if your product is bad, you shouldn't be in business, and the financial system simply serves to ensure that.

[Maverick]

Okay, you've got your facts wrong, the recession wasn't caused by people buying and selling faster; you might've gotten that bit of misinformation from the popular media. The recession was caused because a lot of people took loans they couldn't afford to take and then decided to default on them.
And who were the ones that were responsible for giving those people loans? That's right the banks. I'll admitt that the government did create the conditions to encourage banks to make risky loans they shouldn't have but the fact is they chose to give people with shitty credit a loan they couldn't afford. It was very irresponsible and they should have reaped what they sowed and went under for those bad loans.

[azorne]

And who were the ones that were responsible for giving those people loans? That's right the banks. I'll admitt that the government did create the conditions to encourage banks to make risky loans they shouldn't have but the fact is they chose to give people with shitty credit a loan they couldn't afford. It was very irresponsible and they should have reaped what they sowed and went under for those bad loans.

True, but do you see home retailers being chastized for selling knives? Knives can kill, so can credit. They did nothing more than serve profits to their shareholders, and that is, after all, the purpose of business.

[Maverick]

True, but do you see home retailers being chastized for selling knives? Knives can kill, so can credit. They did nothing more than serve profits to their shareholders, and that is, after all, the purpose of business.
Hey man I believe in free market capitalism. I don't think profit is an evil thing. However, as a supporter of free market capitalism, companies and banks should be responsible for their actions. Nothing is wrong with loans, credit or what not. What I have a problem with is that these banks took out numerous risky loans then went crying to the government and the Federal Reserve to get bailed out. Under performing businesses and business that make bad unproductive decisions should be eradicated.

[azorne]

Hey man I believe in free market capitalism. I don't think profit is an evil thing. However, as a supporter of free market capitalism, companies and banks should be responsible for their actions. Nothing is wrong with loans, credit or what not. What I have a problem with is that these banks took out numerous risky loans then went crying to the government and the Federal Reserve to get bailed out. Under performing businesses and business that make bad unproductive decisions should be eradicated.

Sure you can wipe them out, but then you and your family would lose their jobs. One bank collapsed. One. Lehman Brothers. Today the system is failing. What if AIG fell too? Its not to protect them, its to protect you.

[Maverick]

Sure you can wipe them out, but then you and your family would lose their jobs. One bank collapsed. One. Lehman Brothers. Today the system is failing. What if AIG fell too? Its not to protect them, its to protect you.
That's when you're wrong man. Do you think if a company or bank goes out of business that I work for, should they go under... I would be out of a job forever?

When an underperforming business goes under it paves the way for someone else or another company to pick up the pieces. Sure, I may be structurally unemployed for a little while but after a correction we will be better off in the long run.

Keeping unproductive businesses in power only hurts.

[azorne]

You don't get the complexity of the whole. Of AIG, only its 577 strong subsidary, AIGFP, created over 120 billion in derivatives. The rest of AIG, which employs 116,000 people went on, business as usual, until all the public criticism.

[Wanderer_]

Well people hate them for legally manipulating the system to basically ruin it all perhaps?
Maybe all those loans to people who had no chance of repaying them could have been a bad idea?