Sunday, November 11, 2012

The benevolence of financiers

Olivier Desbarres is (now former) head of Asia FX strategy at Barclays. Condolences to my friends in finance who have to work with people like this. Struggle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster!

(In anticipation of comments: yes, people from all walks of life have meltdowns, but anyone familiar with global finance can detect authentic banker arrogance in this guy...)

Careful observation reveals it's disproportionately sociopaths at (and near) the top.





What a tremendous misallocation of human capital. See The illusion of skill.


5 comments:

  1. My sympathy is with the workers. They seem to be dealing with an emergency: the excavation is flooded with grey (probably sewage) water and they are trying to pump it out. The banker does not even try to understand the situation, he takes it as a personal insult. Very un-English.

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  2. yulva8:39 AM

    Great video but...
    Does Harold Shipman say
    everything you want to know about doctors, Lance Armstrong everything
    about sportsmen, Sweeney Todd everything abour hairdressers, Kimberly
    Saenz everything about nurses, Pol Pot everything about politicians and
    Saville everything about entertainers?

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  3. Let a thousand flowers bloom.11:37 PM

    What is he screaming about?
    He needn't be arrogant or a sociopath.
    Anger makes the most obvious difference between you and those you're angry with an explanation, and a little money (from banking or anywhere else) gives one the confidence to say what he thinks.

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  4. "Condolences to my friends in finance who have to work with people like this."

    In all fairness, being referred to a Chinese animal isn't nearly as bad as say being beaten to death with a baseball bat because you're mistaken for being Japanese. Good thing Chris Chang didn't leave the US for Singapore...

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  5. LaurentMelchiorTellier9:26 PM

    "Good thing Chris Chang didn't leave the US for Singapore..."

    He gets his fair share of anti-Japanese suspicion directed at him here, since he looks borderline Japanese and is suspiciously "other". A sentiment which I frequently encourage, it's too funny.

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