Mr. Obama's War

I read with alarm the news in the press that President Obama has declared war on bankers.   Apparently a sudden shift in his previously benign policy.  It seems that he now proposes imposing limits on the activities that banks may engage in as well as taxes on and other measures affecting bankers' compensation.  Joining in this coalition of the willing in at least  some of the theaters of operation are not only stalwart allies of the recent past but even some  of those previously feckless elderly Europeans.  Or at least so I am told.

The generally sober financial press that I read is beside itself with dire warnings.  It appears our very way of life may well come to an end.   Once again the lights in London and perhaps all of Europe - or at least their financial districts - are going out. I've read stories of huddled masses of bankers yearning to be free, setting sail from London for Asia to escape tyrannical taxes.  In these darkest of days, a few brave (financial) patriots have mounted the ramparts.  Suitable jeremiads  thunder from the editorial and op-ed pages as well as from what are labeled the news columns.  In the temples of finance, high priests perform ancient and powerful rituals over the entrails of distressed subprime loans and derivatives to cure this blight.  The books of Adam Smith are scoured for the right incantations, ignoring as usual the inconvenient "bits". 

Nearer to home, dark rumors have begun to circulate - a Kadaververwertungsanstalt for bankers has opened.  Since I don't have a subscription to either The Times or The Wall Street Journal, I haven't yet seen conclusive proof that it is in operation.   But then neither have I seen that it is not. And that perhaps is the most disturbing thing of all.

As a result, as a member of the banking guild, I am being more circumspect than usual when I leave my home and leaving more infrequently.   And, while at home I listen carefully for the black helicopters, though I am told they are very, very quiet.

On the other hand, much of the accompanying editorial comment in these same papers says that Mr. Obama cannot achieve victory.  Clever bankers will find ways around these new rules as they did the old.  Apparently, a populist surge holds little prospect of success.  Since the syndication of American Idol, there is little chance of a sahwa.  Rather than "stay the course" the only course of action these defeatist voices advocate is the immediate, unconditional and unilateral withdrawal of US forces from Wall Street. 

I am of two minds on this.

As a banker, the message that our way of life is not really under a serious threat at all is admittedly a comfort.  I also take solace in the demonstrated gap between previous rhetoric and reality.   

But, as a citizen,  I do worry that if we do not fight them over there on Wall Street we may end up  fighting them over here - on Main Street.  Any sign of weakness or hesitation is sure to embolden this already fearsome foe. 

Yet, all this remains quite confusing.

On the one hand, I am told this unjust war will lead to the end of the happy world we now know.  And therefore am suitably scared as I believe is every good citizen's duty.

On the other hand,  I am assured that it is all just a meaningless exercise that will be thwarted by the genius of the free market.  And, if needed, by the timely insertion of one or more brigades of the 101st K-Street Rangers equipped with the latest in both "smart" and "stealth" donation technology.

It is hard to know what to do. 

Caution would seem to be a wise tactic at the moment.

I am keeping a low profile.

I may grow a beard.  Or shave one off.