Rank and class

Rank and class have always had, and always will have, privileges and access. Even in the most egalitarian society, a small cadre of people will always have more than the masses.

So it comes as no surprise that, despite laws designed to stop such practices, the latest scandal on Wall Street stems from investment banks directing shares of hot initial public offerings during the dotcom bubble era into the accounts of upper level executives. Those same residents of mahogany row, including several in the telecom field, were integral to the decision-making process when it came time to select lead investment bankers for their various public securities offerings.

Image that. An investment bank, which stands to make millions in fees, using its influence to direct what amounted to can’t-miss opportunities for influencers to make some money of their own. Why, that’s as outrageous as a sales rep taking a buyer out to an expensive dinner and maybe even in the bad old days to a “gentlemen’s” club for post-dinner “entertainment.”

Sure there are rules against such activities, but in the mutual back-scratching tradition that has existed since the first agrarian innovator sold his excess crops to his neighbors, for those of a certain rank and class the rules were meant to be bent. After all, who ever said everyone was equal?