"A Noble Profession"

So Henry Paulson is back, defending banking as "a noble profession:"

During the interview, which was conducted by General Electric chief executive Jeffrey Immelt at the 92nd Street Y, a cultural center in New York City, Paulson said that he was pained to see Wall Street "suffering" under the public's ire. Banking is "a noble profession" that has lifted many people out of poverty, Paulson said. And he lent words of support to the bank leaders who helped to steer their institutions through the crisis: "This being a New York crowd...you all lived through this," he said. "It impacted all of your lives."

Hmm. With over half a decade's worth of warnings from the FBI that mortgage frud is endemic,this rah-rah to banking seems to me misplaced. In fact, all too often the banks seem to have taken Augustus Melmotte as their model.

Is it wrong of me to think that employee orientation at Godlman, BoA, JP Morgan Chase and their ilk must be a more solemn version of this?



Add suits and bottled water...