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Can Women Save Wall Street?
 

Edmundo Braverman's picture
ST
(Human, 14,702
 
Points)
 on 12/22/12 at 7:30am
warren.jpg

mod (Andy) note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from December 2010. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

When Tim Schultz interviewed me for the Playboy article, he asked me at one point what I thought was the one thing regulators needed to make them more effective. I think he was expecting me to say something like FISA-style wiretapping authority or larger enforcement budgets or something along those lines, so you can imagine his shock at my eventual answer.

"Ovaries."

I meant it then and I mean it now. The clearest thinking and most insightful regulatory strategies are coming from women these days, and have for some time. Elizabeth Warren, Sheila Bair, and Brooksley Born could probably fix the whole mess given enough time, and the crisis never would have happened if we'd listened to Born back in the late 90's.

This is a bitter pill for the men of Wall Street to swallow, and I imagine many of you are squirming while you read this. But the fact is, if we had more women at the top of the regulatory structure, especially gifted women like Born and Warren, the destructive financial innovations that drove us to the edge would never have been allowed.

This isn't something I talk about a lot because I know it's not a popular view and, let's face it, Wall Street is still an old boys club. But I was reminded of my conversation with Tim when I saw this excellent short video from TED about female investment bankers in Iceland who left their firms to form Audur Capital and apply traditionally feminine values to investment strategy with outstanding results.

Like it or not, fellas, Wall Street would be in a lot better shape if we had more women calling the shots.

Comments

LLcoolJ's picture

good joke. bitches can't hang

 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 6:04am

good joke. bitches can't hang with the streets.

derivstrading's picture

video isnt working for me,

ST
(King Kong, 1,370
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 6:13am

video isnt working for me, but didnt women simply not invest in anything they didnt understand? and that meant they didn't invest in anything? (forgot if this was the joke or the actual thing).

The women on trading floors are just as money hungry if not more than the guys, and where there is money to be made the people who reach the top posts will naturally be these types of people, be they men or women. Im sure you could find men under which this would not happen as well.

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np1128's picture

Thanks for your article. And

IB
(Baboon, 154
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 8:26am

Thanks for your article. And I found the video link that works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsmgvrcH94U

Edmundo Braverman's picture

Thanks, np1128. I swapped out

ST
(Human, 14,702
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 8:49am

Thanks, np1128. I swapped out the videos so it should work better now. Sometimes TED videos take forever to load.

robes's picture

http://www.menarebetterthanwo

IB
(Baboon, 107
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 8:51am

http://www.menarebetterthanwomen.com/

SAC's picture

Predictable, but still

HF
(King Kong, 1,171
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 9:04am

Predictable, but still hilarious responses.

I honestly don't have an opinion either way on this issue. But I did hear of this group of angel investors that invest only in companies founded/led by women. http://www.goldenseeds.com/home/. I'd be interested to see what their returns are like.

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SAC's picture

Eddie, when are you going to

HF
(King Kong, 1,171
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 9:25am

Eddie, when are you going to post your next booze-related topic ?

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In reply to SAC
Edmundo Braverman's picture

SAC wrote: Eddie, when are

ST
(Human, 14,702
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 9:34am
SAC:

Eddie, when are you going to post your next booze-related topic ?

My recent Four Loko death vigil wasn't enough?

GorillaJuicehead's picture

I read somewhere that their

EN
(Monkey, 54
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 9:54am

I read somewhere that their periods attract bears. The bears can smell the menstruation.

In reply to Edmundo Braverman
SAC's picture

Edmundo Braverman wrote: SAC

HF
(King Kong, 1,171
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 10:02am
Edmundo Braverman:
SAC:

Eddie, when are you going to post your next booze-related topic ?

My recent Four Loko death vigil wasn't enough?

I meant something more refined, like your review of rums..

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Edmundo Braverman's picture

@SAC- As a matter of fact, a

ST
(Human, 14,702
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 10:05am

@SAC- As a matter of fact, a PR firm for several liquor labels just sent me 6 bottles of premium tequila to sample. Yes, it's good to be me. I'll write up a review shortly.

@GorillaJuicehead- This market could use more bears.

Argonaut's picture

This too is a bear...

(King Kong, 1,762
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 10:15am

This too is a bear...

More is good, all is better

GoodBread's picture

Could it be that Sheila Blair

AM
(Neanderthal, 3,637
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 10:51am

Could it be that Sheila Blair and Elizabeth Warren being two of the more lucid actors in the current crisis be a mere coincidence? Seems like a small sample to me.

That being said, the Street could use some more risk-averse and protective regulators such as the aforementioned women. By protective I mean going back to Glass-Steagall and rolling back some of the excess financialization we've been subject to, not putting a cap on bonuses and banning prop trading and other such counterproductive nonsense.

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brotherbear's picture

I am all for having more

PE
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 11:38am

I am all for having more women in finance. The problem is--they don't really want to play in our sandbox.

I am assuming you all have read the article on Goldman getting sued by a female VP for discrimination. Goldman has a part-time plan for working mothers, and this lady was in markets. She took maternity leave, then worked part-time for a while, then took maternity leave again, and then bitched about not getting promoted.

Front office roles are not conducive to family life for anyone. If you're going to work in banking or markets, you are going to have to give up a few things. If you're a woman, and you decide you want a family, unfortunately, that's probably going to mean a promotion.

I like having women in the office. I like having women on the trading floor. If they weren't around, half of the guys wouldn't behave at all (though, we might have a bit less peacocking). But I don't like the idea of holding a job for someone that plans on working part-time or taking maternity leave for 2-3 years. That just means more work for the rest of us. And we cannot legally fill the position.

If you were a hiring manager, and you have two equally well-qualified candidates in front of you of different genders, how do you make the decision? While you may concoct some other reason for taking the male (when explaining the decision to HR), you must be conscious of the fact that the woman has a much higher chance of leaving the firm in the next 5 years. While most hiring managers would never admit it publicly, this is simply the fact of the matter.

Regardless, women think differently than men (on average). But I cannot be sure that the subset of women who participate in high finance think differently than their male counterparts, so I'm not convinced that ovaries are the answer to our problems.

thedude86's picture

Quote: Like it or not,

 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 11:42am

Like it or not, fellas, Wall Street would be in a lot better shape if we had more women calling the shots.

I call foul sir!

Buyside CFA's picture

Where do you come up with

AM
(Gorilla, 510
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 12:25pm
Midas Mulligan Magoo's picture

The issue here IS NOT

 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 12:31pm

Where I unload on Twits and take verbal S***s

anaismalcolm's picture

http://www.wallstreetoasis.co

IB
(Orangutan, 329
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 12:58pm
Edmundo Braverman's picture

@Buyside CFA- appreciate the

ST
(Human, 14,702
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 1:22pm

guerrillagrrl's picture

Don't worry fellas, most

O
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 2:00pm

WSOCON 2013 - B Scene

SAC's picture

I hate to digress again but

HF
(King Kong, 1,171
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 2:07pm

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leveredarb's picture

Women are more risk averse

(King Kong, 1,263
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 2:11pm
baddebt88's picture

You guys have heard of this

ST
(Orangutan, 314
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 4:27pm
In reply to Midas Mulligan Magoo
MItchc's picture

Midas Mulligan Magoo

(Chimp, 2
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 4:53pm
guerrillagrrl's picture

The daily mail. Really? Lol

O
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 5:11pm

WSOCON 2013 - B Scene

ikicker's picture

Alan Greenspan loved hiring

PE
(Monkey, 47
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 6:46pm
In reply to baddebt88
APAE's picture

baddebt88 wrote: You guys

(Neanderthal, 3,713
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 8:06pm

A lot of people do certain things to add days to their life. I do things to add life to my days.

In reply to silentdud
Argonaut's picture

silentdud wrote: Alan

(King Kong, 1,762
 
Points)
 on 12/30/10 at 10:45pm

More is good, all is better

Autistic Lurker's picture

Ever went to a mall? womans

O
(Chimp, 8
 
Points)
 on 12/31/10 at 5:29am
Argonaut's picture

Technically, lower prenatal

(King Kong, 1,762
 
Points)
 on 12/31/10 at 3:00pm

More is good, all is better

Bondarb's picture

What did Shelia Bair do that

HF
(Neanderthal, 2,359
 
Points)
 on 12/31/10 at 3:11pm
Edmundo Braverman's picture

@Bondarb- When it comes to

ST
(Human, 14,702
 
Points)
 on 12/31/10 at 5:04pm

In reply to Edmundo Braverman
brotherbear's picture

Edmundo Braverman

PE
 
Points)
 on 12/31/10 at 5:28pm
In reply to brotherbear
ikicker's picture

eh never mind

PE
(Monkey, 47
 
Points)
 on 1/2/11 at 1:22am
UFOinsider's picture

Realistically, women can be

O
(Human, 10,462
 
Points)
 on 1/4/11 at 12:23am

I just had my first UFO experience.

I called my wife fat while we were making dinner.

Flying saucers everywhere XD

In reply to Argonaut
down on the upside's picture

Argonaut wrote: Technically,

CD
(Baboon, 143
 
Points)
 on 1/4/11 at 11:04am
In reply to down on the upside
Argonaut's picture

down on the upside

(King Kong, 1,762
 
Points)
 on 1/5/11 at 5:42pm

More is good, all is better

worklikeamachine's picture

Sandwiches can't save

 
Points)
 on 12/22/12 at 1:27pm
In The Flesh's picture

Smart, ethical, and

HF
(Neanderthal, 2,883
 
Points)
 on 12/22/12 at 1:28pm

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