It’s hard to work out whether Britain’s bankers are mad, bad or simply prone to a god complex, which elevates them above the concerns and criticisms of ordinary mortals like you and me. Certainly, they appear utterly impervious to the tide of abuse pouring over them, following wave after wave of headlines about bonuses and multi million pound pay deals.
Even the Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, says senior executives are in denial about their actions amid “very real and wholly understandable” animosity. Sir Mervyn who is habitually a staunch defender of the financial sector, adds that “market discipline can’t apply to everyone except banks.”
We live in strange times. Not long ago banks like other institutions went out of their way to avoid making bad headlines. And if occasionally they failed, then large, well-funded PR departments would be wheeled out not only to repel attacks but also mount positive campaigns, in a determined bid to change public perception. Not so with banks and bankers today.
It would now be an uphill struggle to persuade any of us that trust in banks should be restored. Yet surely any other business would fight hard to restore its reputation because of the huge potential damage to market value, and not least, the threat to many top careers. So why are the bankers stubbornly staying in their parallel universe?
Sadly, our bankers seem to have sunk into a sulk, resentful that the world is so ungrateful for their allegedly dazzling success in creating wealth for all, convinced that they are worth every million they have voted for themselves. Wealth they appear determined to keep in their own bank accounts, no matter what the headlines say.
