Awww, the poor finance industry

03.15.12 - 10:58 am | Tim Redmond |

(63)

It must be so awful to be a recruiter in the finance industry these days. Seems college kids just aren't as interested in going to work for companies that crashed the U.S. economy, perpetuate the wealth gap and screw their clients. Besides, the money's just not as good any more: The folks at Goldman Sachs only got $125,000 in bonuses last year.

I wonder if anyone's talking about cutting their pensions. Oh, wait -- their greed helped cut other people's pensions!

Now maybe the smartest college students will think about doing something more productive for the world. Except that the ones who didn't start out rich will have trouble with that, since they'll graduate with about $100,000 in debt, and the only way to pay it off is to work for someplace that pays a shitload of money. So maybe Wall Street will be saved anyway.

Comments

Pensions have nothing to do with this

Until recently, 20% of MIT graduates in the past decade were working in finance. What a waste of talent!

Fortunately, people have come to realize that the stock market is a bad place to put your money, and employment is dropping fast in the finance industry. The stock market rose 0% in 2000-2010, meaniing return on stocks was only 2% annually (the average annual dividend).

Nobody, meaning no IRA, no pension fund, and NO "CITY FAMILY PENSION FUND, is making more than 2% on average.

However, the CITY FAMILY has guaranteed returns of 8%. That 6% difference is the reason that the city of San Francisco is slowing going bankrupt.

The city family gets to dip into the General Fund more each year (now consuming almost 25% of it). This is the reason funds for SF General, street cleaning, etc etc., get cut more each year.

So your swipe above about "cutting pensions" does not apply to the City Family.

Posted by Troll the 14th on Mar. 17, 2012 @ 10:41 am

You've just made the case for

You've just made the case for government guaranteed pensions and senior health care, thanks.

Posted by marcos on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 8:31 am

Evidently you didn't understand his post.

The city is assuming that it's pension fund will grow by 8% but in practice it is growing much less than that, if at all. But as long as they "pretend" it's 8% they can make smaller contributions to the pension fund.

Meanwhile they are not addressing the 4 billion liability for unlimited free healthcare for city employees because that would be painful too.

The Supes figure they'll all be termed out by the time the problem becomes unmanageable.

Posted by Guest on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 8:43 am

The inviolability of the

The inviolability of the contract is the cornerstone of capitalism. What kind of socialist communist are you suggesting that we demolish capitalism by abrogating the sanctity of the contract?

Posted by marcos on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 8:55 am

The law provides for that - it's called bankruptcy

Or you just fire whatever number of them balances the books

Posted by Guest on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 10:11 am

Bankruptcy where all

Bankruptcy where all creditors are treated equally is much preferable to directed attacks on pensions.

The appropriate solution is to divorce Wall Street and create San Francisco's own municipal bank.

Posted by marcos on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 10:31 am

I'm sure a muni bank would be as successful as muni transport

But a chapter 9 restructuring is only one option.

Others are mass layoffs, converting to a DC system and pushing all the cost onto the employees. Do all three of those and we might even avoid the BK.

Posted by Guest on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 1:14 pm

BK=default on bonds too and

BK=default on bonds too and that will end the contracting gravy train that powers the patronage machine.

Posted by marcos on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 2:26 pm

Oakland tried defaulting on the swaps that Goldman Sachs sold

them. Didn't work out too well for them.

People who need borrowers as much as municipalities do better not piss them off.

Posted by Guest on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 2:39 pm

Can you imagine Campos and Avalos with their sticky

little fingers in a municipal bank? Campos would have us paying for elective plastic surgery for transsexual illegal immigrants while Avalos would demand the city buy up all properties on the market for over 30 days to provide "housing for life" for SF's burgeoning homeless population. Sounds like a dream.

Posted by Lucretia Snapples on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 2:02 pm

Yep, it would be a slush fund for progressive pork.

Interesting that when almost every agrees that the city's workforce is too large, progressives still want to make it even bigger.

It's like trying to solve the deficit by borrowing and spending more.

Posted by Guest on Dec. 12, 2012 @ 2:12 pm

Finance industries are very

Finance industries are very useful industries. It is very helpful for business.

Posted by money rates on Dec. 11, 2012 @ 9:52 pm

Business required finance any

Business required finance any time. So Finance industries are very helpful for business life.

Posted by baydon hill fx on Dec. 11, 2012 @ 10:36 pm