Lions and Hyenas

When I was in Wall Street, it was a very good place to be. It was respectable work and I felt like I could earn good money and help other people to do the same thing. My beliefs have changed greatly in the intervening years and I haven't been able to recommend a career on "the Street" to anyone in decades. A Wall Streeter still looks great in a $5,000 suit with all the hand made accoutrements, but even that may be coming to an end.

Romney has made much of his experience with Bain Capital, where he made millions (and still does) and helped to bring into our lives some success stories like Staples and The Sports Authority. He calls himself a private equity expert, but now people are beginning to understand that he might also be called a corporate raider, even maybe a bottom feeder and I don't think he's going to be able to keep up the masquerade as a Lion of Wall Street when he may more closely resemble a hyena or a vulture. At Bain, Romney who was the Founder and CEO, was focused exclusively one making a profit for himself and his partners and not all of his efforts were successful. None of his moves were altruistic, unless one imagines that removing roadkill is useful work. He chose his field, declining to be an investment banker or hedge fund manager, so it isn't unfair to ask why the much less attractive field appealed more to him

When Bain, or a similar enterprise, takes over a failing company there is much dirty work to be done that most people would find extraordinarily ugly. Often the buyers avoid getting their hands bloody by bringing in CEOs with colorful names to do the wet work. Al Dunlap, who was known for his brutal efficiency as "Chainsaw Harry" comes to mind. These new bosses fire everyone in sight, strip out benefits for those remaining, sell off anything removable and then see if the parts can be sold for a tax advantage or somehow be made profitable enough to recover their highly leverage investment. Sometimes the resultrs are re-leveraged so management can get every possible advantage. Inevitably, it is hell to work for a company that has been tajken over. Employees are scared stiff and productivity is pushed to the max. There will be no bowling teams working and no little leaguers sponsored. I believe Mr. Romney saw a chance to run a financial firm and make big money and that was enough.

When people think of American big business, they tend to envision Ford assembly lines, oil rigs in the Gulf or huge drug companies, but there's a seamy side, too, that few like to contemplate, except Mr. Romney and others with similar business interests. This is seldom high minded stuff, it's Wall Street at its worst and Americans need to know it's there, out back behind the handsome facade. The law of the jungle prevails in business, but I don't believe this kind of business experience is what I'd prefer for the leader of the free world. Mr. Romney might do better to talk more about his experiences as governor of Massachusetts, but he can't do that, can he?