Why bankers may remain unpopular

Bankers the world over have been a maligned lot simply because they had a key role to play in creating the global financial crisis in the first place. Most of them (especially those in investment banks) focused on 'financial engineering' and creating complex products rather than stress on the basic sound principles of banking. Huge amounts of money were pocketed as bonuses for profits generated. But the bubble burst (as it was bound to) and the rest they say is history. Recession, bloated debt, large scale unemployment have all hampered the developed world and threatened the health of the global economy. But bankers do not seem to have learnt a lesson.

Indeed, rich bankers can today be exposed as a huge drain on society costing it £8.4 for every £1 they produce. A study by think-tank the New Economics Foundation found that the average banker destroys £42 m a year in value while creating just £5 m. As a result of the credit crunch, most big banks had to be bailed out and this has been a heavy drain on the tax payers' money. This is in contrast to public sector workers such as nursery workers and bin men who are lowly paid but produce more value than what they earn as wages. As long as bankers continue to pocket big salaries without contributing much to the economy, they are going to be extremely unpopular not just with the government but also with the public.