Boomer Banker has been quiet for the last six months. This pause has allowed me time to take a step back and consider what issues are most important for bankers in the current environment of increased evidence of environmental risk, heightened levels of political risk and the ongoing high level of economic inequality. Unfortunately, I have not been able to develop any breakthrough ideas for solving these complex and inter-related issues. But I realized that this blog can and should provide links to a variety of thinkers and writers on issues that may be less directly related to banking. So 2022 will be a year of fewer posts with a reduced focus on banking but an increased focus on the overall environment in which banks and bankers are operating
In that vein, what struck me most in the last week is the question above: Why is everyone so angry?
This question came to mind after reading two articles highlighting the high level of anger that seems to be prevalent in various locations. The New York Times on 1 January 2022 reported on increased anger among young South Korean men regarding women’s rights. Despite having one of the highest gender gaps for pay and a low level of female participation in both government and business, there is a very large movement opposing feminism. One group even had the motto: “Till the day that all feminists are exterminated.
Just a day or so later I read an article by Evan Osnos in The New Yorker titled: “Dan Bongino and the Big Business of Returning Trump to Power.” This article provided an interesting insight into a business model that is focused on making money by creating and exploiting a general anger that seems to be prevalent in the United States. As noted in the article, he builds on the premise that “suspicion is an appetite that is never fully sated” as he covers a variety of conspiracy theories that seem never to be proven but also seem never to be able to be disproven. A key part of Bongino’s business model is that nothing is “more potent than the constant regeneration of fear.”
In both of these examples and others, there is an underlying anger that is difficult to explain or understand. In general other than the known challenges arising from the impact of the COVID pandemic, the underlying economics for the vast majority of people are relatively good. Nearly all countries provided substantial economic support to date in the pandemic. But as Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee stated at a John Adams Institute event last year: “We ignore at our peril what people tell us.” And too many people are saying they are angry.
The final piece of my thinking fell a bit into place with an Elizabeth Kolbert article in the same issue of The New Yorker as the article on Dan Bongino. Whilst Kolbert is best known for her focus on environmental issues, she did an excellent analysis on the impact of social media on the rise of anger. She covers a variety of analyses on how social media has exacerbated societal division as well as noting some suggestions on how to address this challenge.
As bankers it is easy to ignore these challenges as being irrelevant to our work providing financial services. But I would argue that this rise in societal animosity is a substantial business risk that could have a very negative impact on the economy and banking. Perhaps the roots of the next financial crisis are being created in the fury that seems to be growing around the world. Whilst I do not know what bankers should be doing in either their work or in their personal efforts as citizens, ignoring these issues does not seem to be a very prudent approach.
