The key word, and sticking point, is ’sympathy’.

As TR puts it, there’s no ’sympathy’ here – there’s anger. Let me add a few to that – Chagrin. Disbelief. Outrage. At the bankers, the institutions for which they worked, and the whole system.

None of those comments denied the ramifications of the collapse – or wished that it would happen. We don’t! But it’s difficult to sympathise.

And nothing in the MJ piece addresses that.

And because I don’t understand the technicalities of it (am a Computer Science graduate), I don’t get the sympathy wave, either. I don’t choose to be ignorant. I am just not sure.

If you have, then awesome! Let’s see – taken your logic to the extreme, every bad news in the world affects me. You know, there have been 100 accidents today in the US – and hence maybe, I should stop going on the road – or something to that effect.

When these financial service companies (service? or disservice?) were raking in huge profits, I could not do a damn thing to stop them or earn any shared prosperity. On the other hand, when these financial service companies are in turmoil, I can’t do a damn thing other than to pay up extra taxes down the road due to the bailouts. When the shit hit the fan, all the walls in my house got colored.

We all understand that we are getting/going to get screwed going forward, simply due to the inevitable raise in taxes if not anything else. However, unless we attach a goddamn social stigma to such an action, unless we call out moral hazards with respect to such actions, unless there is widespread anger, frustration and schadenfreude at such a situation, we won’t be correcting ourselves in the future – rather, the financial service companies would be encouraged to continue on similar lines – and that my dear friend is the whole issue.

Privatizing wealth and socializing debt…this is precisely what the past few months have indicated to the normal public. Left to me – sympathy, emotions and taxes – ah, well, I might as well have none of it due to this turmoil.

That said, i think some of the arguments used in this post is, with respect, pure hyperbole. The collapse of Lehman or Bear does not spell the end for capital markets. People got loans for college and housing, local governments collected taxes and interest was paid on deposits long before Lehman and the others turned into what they have become in recent years, and these will continue to happen when the dust has settled. America and the world will survive.

Granted, in the present climate of fear and uncertainty (partly caused by these very doomsayers) retail banks are very careful about whom to and how much they lend. That is not necessarily a bad thing as irresponsible lending was one of the causes for this crisis in the first place. But competition between banks will improve things over time. Sure they perform a useful role in the economy, but so do the telecoms industry, the hotel industry and even the au pair industry. When a hotel goes bust in a downturn, their staff lose their jobs, but no one talks of a bailout! Banks do pay heavy taxes during the boom years, but when things go bad they also get enormous bailouts paid for from payroll taxes collected from everyone, including waiters, cleaners and au pairs. One must be blind not to see the enormous irony in all of this.

Let us be very clear about this, no industry should be above the fundamental rules of the free market. Risk brings great rewards, mistakes and profligacy bring losses. Over the past few years, the auto industry, the print media, the dotcom and the airline industries have learnt this the hard way. They have changed their business models, cut costs and become profitable once more, all without tax dollars. Customers have benefitted immensely from the better and cheaper products that are now offered.

It is a shame that many employees had to lose their jobs before some financial industry CEOs and shareholders decide to do the same.