NYC jobs we can do without

The investment banking firms on Wall Street are predicted to cut up to 10,000 jobs in 2012 on top of the 1800 jobs eliminated since April of this year.  The industry lost about $3 billion in the third quarter of 2011 and total forecasted profits will be lower than expected.

While New York City will feel some pain from losing these highly paid jobs, the rest of the country and our nation’s economy will probably be better off.

It takes a lot of profits to pay the big salaries and bonuses of these Wall Street paper-pushers who make a living from cutting deals and promoting investments.  That means the products they market have to offer higher and higher returns—translated that means riskier and riskier investments. 

The securities industry could afford all these employees because they promoted greed and created unsound investment products that made them easy money.  The result was the collapse of our economy and the Great Recession.

Every one of us paid the price for the fast and loose Wall Street deals.  So we shouldn’t cry any tears for the investment banking jobs New York will lose.  If the city follows the advice of the New York Times, “developing more and different status jobs would be better for New York”. 

For the rest of us who worry about Wall Street resuming its irresponsible ways, we should be grateful if the investment banking firms have fewer mouths to feed.