How We Value the Super-Rich - Wall Street vs. Silicon Valley - NYTimes.com
In Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the Vanities,” the investment banker Sherman McCoy attempts to explain his Wall Street job to his daughter. His wife chimes in:
“Darling,” said Judy, “Daddy doesn’t build roads or hospitals, and he doesn’t help people build them, but he does handle the bonds for the people who raise the money.”
“Bonds?”
“Yes. Just imagine that a bond is a slice of cake, and you didn’t bake the cake, but every time you hand somebody a slice of the cake a tiny little bit comes off, like a little crumb, and you can keep that.”
