Legend has it that when the victorious Roman generals returned from their campaigns of war and covered themselves with glory in grand parades on the streets of Rome, they would be followed by a small voice warning them of the fickleness of fame and fortune.

I’m totally mesmerised by the meltdown in financial markets. I know that the banks employ a lot of good people, a lot of smart people. I know that the banks are a great place to work for a few years - you can learn a lot and you get well paid for it. But I want to say something about the kill or be killed culture that prevailed in these places. It wasn’t that long ago when investment banks were recruiting the best graduates with promises of big pay cheques and massive bonuses. Banks attracted people motivated by money. To get a job in an investment bank was an easy road to riches, to have their names on your resume was a passport to success.

The roll call of prestigious companies being bailed out, bought out or going bust makes the collapse of Enron, or the once stellar hedge fund Long Term Capital Management with all its Nobel Laureates, or even the Dotcom implosion, look like baby cakes. For Merrill Lynch to be bought out by the Bank of America is like an A-list celebrity being forced into the Big Brother house. Investment banks used to rule the world; Tom Wolfe called them the “Masters of the Universe.” In the end it all meant nothing. Their houses were built on sand.

I could never understand how it is, that despite the billions of dollars of shareholders’ money that gets lost on the markets as bankers chase down the next big idea, the CEOs of these companies always managed to walk away with multi-million dollar payoffs. Being a shareholder in an investment bank is a bum deal. Firstly, the employees get the lion’s share of the profits and then, if you’re lucky enough, you might get some. Otherwise you get to watch your money evaporate. Shareholders carry all the risk with little reward. There is no downside for the bankers. It’s all other people’s money. Now the government wants to bail them out.

I want a job like that too.