What is best in life
We always hear about the finance brain drain - how smart individuals from HYPSM are lured to banking/trading/quant positions, which in many cases (though not always) may have little social value.
It got me thinking about a friend of mine, really smart guy (perfect SATs, dozen APs, all the standard jazz) who never even applied to the Ivies, went straight to Berkeley engineering. Now he's off saving the world - implementing filtering systems in the slums of Mumbai that will help limit the spread of enteric disease, and enjoying every minute of it.
You think he cares if his paycheck is X or 2X or 10X? Because honestly, it seems to me that he enjoys his life more than any of the MDs and baller traders I've met. It doesn't cost much to have a group of friends that you care about, or work that you are emotionally invested in, or a partner that you love and share goals/ambitions/life with.
It reminds me of a quote by Bertrand Russell: "There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming." Finance, like BigLaw, is comforting to such men.
There are plenty of people who make extremely good money, while also enhancing society in ways you seem to deem best. Think of the VCs and investment banks who helped get Dendreon off the ground--or the numerous other VC and IB who have done the same for many other biotech firms. I am sure whoever invented the filtering system that your friend is busy implementing made decent money off of his/her invention and certainly reached many more people than your friend.
You are right though--people ought to do what they love to do whenever possible. Many people here use IB/trading/quantitative research/etc. as a stepping stone and their work, whether now or down the line, can most definitely contribute in a variety of ways to bettering the world. Regardless, in 10,000 years nobody will remember your friend, this website, or anybody here, so you may as well enjoy the time you have as best you can without worrying about the other extraneous things like what society may deem 'best' for everyone else.
lolololol looks like someone got rejected from megafund private equity!!!
Perhaps I enjoyed it because I'm inherently "greedy" but I decided I wanted to get into finance when I was in the military, just investing with my paycheck. I have a fairly quantitative and analytical mind and I think I've found a good fit in finance.
Then again...I didn't apply to IBD, I'm going into risk management and decent hours...
I'd like to end up in portfolio management eventually because I enjoy managing investments. If someone feels the same way about IBD/PE work, which I understand at the VP+ level, more power to them.
I would admit that while it's challenging and interesting, it doesn't make life fulfilling in itself. There's no reason you can't get that from volunteering and just generally trying to be a good person to the people in your life, though.
I've also met a former I-banker who went on to form a multi-million dollar non-profit that provides healthy lunches to schoolchildren, mainly in poorer areas. I-banking can open a lot of doors.
True, your friend became an engineer and is off saving the world... but do you want to know who was in his physics and chemistry courses at Cal?
Future missile systems engineers, chemists designing nuclear weapons, and guys making Iron Man suits. With the exception of Tony Stark, there were probably plenty of engineers going into the industry to create things that are not only socially neutral but (arguably) socially detrimental.
The point I'm trying to make is that it's not so black and white and that finance probably isn't doing that much worse than many other subjects are.
Besides, there are plenty of guys that come out of finance and go into philanthropy, non-profit organizations, and other forms of public service.
I think one of the largest fields in chemical engineering is making artificial flavoring. That seems fulfilling.
MIT, Stanford, CMU, etc are all working on groundbreaking technologies that allow cars to drive themselves without a human at the wheel. There is some serious brainpower behind all of this.
What will this be used for?
The US Government is going to use this in Iraq and future wars, so we can (hopefully) kill insurgents without harming our own solders. Don't believe me? Google the DARPA Grand Challenge.
I saw a documentary once where companies like McDonalds hired top chemists to take what is basically crap and make it taste and smell like actual food.
Finance isn't the only thing that may have little social value. It's better to take the money than the lives / health of others.
I know I am stating the obvious here, but I think finance has tremendous social value. The industry struggles daily to provide the appropriate level of liquidity and capital to businesses and governments of disparate quality around the world. The system is extremely effective at rewarding good ideas and practices and punishing bad ones. These incentives are essential for a functioning and efficient society.
That said, I don't really feel peaceful waves of altruism washing over me as I walk out to work everyday.
The best things in life are free But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees. Now gimme money (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want), oh-yeh, That's what I want.
Your lovin' give me a thrill But your lovin' don't pay my bills. Now gimme money (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want), oh-yeh, That's what I want.
Money don't get everything it's true. What it don't get I can't use. Now gimme money (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want), oh yeh, That's what I want.
[Instrumental]
Money don't get everything it's true. What it don't get I can't use. Now gimme money (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want), That's what I want (that's what I want), oh-yeh, That's what I want.
Well now give me money (that's what I want) A lot of money (that's what I want) Oh yeah, I wanna be free (that's what I want) Oh a lot of money (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want), oh-yeh That's what I want.
Well now give me money (that's what I want) A lot of money (that's what I want) Whoa,yeah you know I need to be free (that's what I want) Oh, now give me money money! (that's what I want) That's what I want (that's what I want), oh-yeh, That's what I want.
Mongol General: What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.
I came from a more altruistic background into finance, and I like the purity of it, In NGOs there are plenty of self-righteous bastards with huge ego problems. Plus, when people think they're doing good, they justify to themselves behaviour that would not be ethically condoned in any other arena of business.
Of course, financiers are not exactly working to the good of the man on the street either, don't fool yourself that the finance system somehow helps the majority. It is just a meritocratic system that drives equity into ever decreasing numbers of owners.
But at least there's fewer politics involved - well, in trading anyway - PE, investment banking, asset management, etc is still a morass swamp of self-believing egoists jacked up on uncle charlie's special baking soda.
Let's be honest, people enjoy the creature comforts that come with earning finance money
Also, not all finance folks could be at that level, ie, the engineering equivalent of a rainmaker
Moss: "When you're rich, you don't write checks."
Reporter: "If you don't write checks, how do you pay these guys?"
Moss: "Straight cash, homey."
Reporter: "Randy, are you upset about the fine?"
Moss: "No, cause it ain't shit. Ain't nothing but 10 grand. What's 10 grand to me?"
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