My country 'tis of thee... god save the queen

“I can never suppose this country so far lost to all ideas of self-importance as to be willing to grant America independence” King George III

Last summer I joined a rather unique, dare I say, elite club. I am one of the handful of Scrantonians with dual citizenship. Yes, I can now claim to be American and British. Sadly, the benefits of giving my oath to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II have been elusive. There are no tax implications - the UK and US are equally stuffed, so taxes are high and rising in both countries (especially for us dastardly bankers). I do get two votes rather than one, which means I could have participated in May's UK parliamentary election and the mid-term US vote this November. Still, watching the political dynamics in my native and adopted countries, I have a hard time getting excited about voting in either. I can't even use my new Britishness to whiz through Heathrow airport, the world's 3rd busiest, because I haven't had the time to get a British passport. The main reason of course is that I spend too much time going in and out of Heathrow airport with my American passport. Worst of all, most times I mention my British status to someone from Scranton, they look at me like I am some kind of a Euro-trash, socialist spy.

While the benefits of my Brit-American status have been elusive, I am experiencing my first true dual-citizen dilemma. What team do I support on June 12th when the US football (soccer) team meets England in the first round of the World Cup? As a true football convert, this is no small issue for me. So I begin with my brain - and review the hard facts. OddsChecker.com shows England at 4/7 odds - the clear favorite. It is easy to understand. The combined annual payroll of the likely starting 11 in England's squad is an astounding £65 million per year ($90 million with today's weak pound). For the US team, it is closer to £7 million. Ironically, England's David Beckham is the highest paid player in the US professional soccer league by a factor of 7 and will be sitting on the bench at the World Cup as he is "old", "slow" and now injured. As for current form, England breezed through its qualification round and is currently ranked 8th in the world. The US ranks 18th.

Despite the overwhelming odds (a US win pays 5/1) my gut tells me the match will be close. England's football history is probably most well known for its disappointments rather than its successes. England won the World Cup once, in 1966, and only then with the unprecedented advantage of playing every match at its home stadium of Wembley (in London). Since then, England has only managed one semi-final - a loss against Germany in 1990. To be fair, the US history in the World Cup is even more dismal - a semi-final in the first World Cup in 1930 was America's high-water mark. But in 1950, the only time the US and England met in the World Cup, the US managed a 1-0 victory, despite hard facts that look similar to those today. And even with its 18th ranking in the world, the US team had a remarkable run in last summer's Confederates Cup. The Americans defeated world # 1 Spain in the semi finals and nearly beat world #2 Brazil in the final. Sadly, Ranen couldn't bring himself to cheer on the US against Spain since his hero, Fernando Torres, is Spain's striker. I did manage to get him to cheer for the US in the final, but just barely.

Even my heart is conflicted. Deep down, I know my heart lies in America. I was born and raised there, went to school there, met and married Dina there and spent much of my early career there. When the Winter Olympics did find their way onto the BBC this year, which was occasional at best, I cheered for Americans - although the lack of any British athletes made it all the easier. Still, seven years in London and this place has grown on me. Sure, transport doesn't work, service is non-existent and the weather is complete crap. But one of the quintessential British traits is quiet resolution towards life's little challenges. And these days when the tube (subway) is closed yet again I find my old New York anger giving way to my new English shrug. Of course, both my sons were born in England and speak with proper English accents. And to be fair no matter what I say about this country, it is here that I discovered my love for football (soccer).

Socrates once said he was neither Greek nor Athenian, but a citizen of the world. Fair enough, but Socrates didn't have to deal with choosing between your native and adopted countries going head-to-head in the world's biggest sporting event. So what will it be? In the end, my wish is for a 4-4 tie. Wimp you say? Maybe not. Remember, modern football tournaments include a group stage followed by the knock-out stage. During the group stage, where England and the US will meet, the two teams with the most points make it through to the knock-out stage. With Slovenia (ranked 23rd) and Algeria (31st) the other teams in the group what could be better than a 4-4 offensive flurry in the opening match, followed by England and the US each thumping Algeria and Slovenia in their follow up games. After that, the US and England should enter the knock-out stage with little chance of meeting again. After all, if history is anything to go by, there is a high likelihood that both my teams will be eliminated well before the final match. By then, Ranen will likely get a chance to watch his beloved Spain go for football glory!

A Scranton Boy in Chelsea

P.S. I did get opinions from a few other Brit-Americans. Check out the video below!

Bullet trains, planes and automobiles

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Like no other trip I can remember one this past month best represents the love-hate relationship I've developed with my life of non-stop business travel. It was the first time I attended my firm's annual central banks conference in Japan. At it, I met nine standing or former policymakers. I listened to Karl Rove, the evil genius, bash President Obama and his faltering Democratic party. I rode my first Japanese bullet train, a modern technological marvel. The average delay for this train is 35 seconds. When a conductor exceeds it he must submit a report. When I heard this, I thought of the length of the strike UK train workers would stage if asked to meet similar standards. I visited the ancient city of Kyoto in style, culminating my visit at the firm founders' villa, with gardens so beautiful no less than Japan's emperor had stopped by for a private stroll a few weeks ago. At the gardens, I had my picture taken with two (of only 50) Geisha girls in training, called "maiku" (dance child). As I rode the bullet train back to Tokyo, I couldn't help but reminisce at how much this Scranton boy had experienced in the 25 years since leaving home.

Then the bad news began to trickle in. A volcanic eruption in Iceland, this time real rather than financial, had caused an ash cloud to form that was beginning to affect air space in the UK and much of northern Europe. Having experienced what a well-predicted snow cloud can do to UK transport services, I reckoned a once-in-200-year volcanic ash cloud had the makings of a proper mess. Ever the pragmatist, I called my secretary and began booking myself on flights in places as close to London as France and as far off as Hong Kong and New York. I was going to beat this damn cloud and get home to my family. In the end, I won the war but lost a few battles. I did get home to my family, but five days late. To get there, I travelled literally around the world: London to Tokyo, Tokyo to New York, New York to Rome and finally Rome to London. Along the way, the ash clould had its allies, one typical the other unexpected. The typical one was the incompetence of UK authorities. The decision to close UK airspace for the longest period since WWII was made using an error-prone computer model - it turns out the plane that would have been used to test the atmosphere was "in the shop." A less typical one was an all-too-uncommon high pressure system in England. It brought the first warm, immaculately sunny period London for as long as I can remember, but also helped to keep the ash clould sitting above country!

As I reflected on the trip, I realized more than ever how one's perception of things can change with time. After nearly twelve years of constant business travel, my desire to experience new people and places remains nearly undiminished. Few have been able to see the world in the way I have. I've been to 45 countries using no less than 49 air carriers. I have been to nearly every major city around the globe and quite a few minor ones. And many of my experiences have been memorable. I was once propositioned by a horse-riding Ukrainian prostitute in the streets of Moscow. I sped through Gleneagles' world-reknowned golf course in a cart trying to interrupt any serious golfers I could find (including unfortunately, the head of my business). I even interviewed would-be economists at Rio's famous Copa Cabana beach bar - I choose the table that faced the beach! All these experiences while technically "working."

But I also know the bar has been raised for what I view as a new experience. Left with the thought of sitting out my exile in Tokyo, I found myself seeing the city's flaws rather than its virtues. When I first visited Tokyo more than 10 years ago the city seemed so futuristic, so exotic - like a modern-day version of Blade Runner without the persistent rain. And having grown quite fond of a good culinary experience, I think Tokyo offers amongst the best food on the planet. Where else can you enjoy a 3-hour chicken yakatori experience - course upon course of ever-more exotic parts of the bird, with a dose of sake in between each one (persumably to help lubricate the mind for the more adventurous parts.) But after more than a dozen visits to Tokyo, it is easier to spot some flaws. For instance, thanks to the phenomenal success of allied bombing raids and a post-war bout of urban "renewal", Tokyo has lost much of the history and culture that Kyoto still boasts. In its place, Tokyo has transformed itself into a city of neon flash. And while the gaijin (non Japanese) district called Roppongi is one of the more reknowned party districts in the world, there is a limit to its appeal once you reach my age. While colleagues seeing Tokyo for the first time marveled at the city, I knew it held nothing much new for me anymore.

I've also learned the while I love new things, I increasingly crave the familiar. While my initial instinct was to fly somewhere new and hopefully sunny to wait out the naughty (and apparently not very dangerous) ash cloud, I settled on a 13-hour flight to New York City. The main reason was New York offered the best chance I had to get home quickly - no other city outside of Europe has so many flights to London. But I also knew that if I was going to be holed up for days to come, the familiarity of New York - friends, some family and the city itself - felt far superior to experiencing something new by myself.

From time to time I run into people who think my life is glamorous, especially the crazy travel. I suppose there are elements of it, every now and then. But as I wondered through New York City in a pair of overused underwear (my hotel did not do laundry on sundays), my memories of sipping sake and eating sushi in Kyoto's most beautiful gardens were already fading quickly - overwhelmed by my burning desire to get home to my family. And a phone call with my two little boys some ten days into the ordeal, I knew they at least would welcome a tad less glamour and a little more daddy in their lives (although Gideon already sees Tokyo as the place you can get the cool kitty cars.)

A Scranton Boy In Chelsea

P.S. I wasn't being totally honest about my decision to go to NYC. If you want full disclosure, it is still the best place on earth to get some cheap shopping done - my trip home to London included an extra bag or two!

A Scranton Boy at the Top of the World

"It is quite common here to live to a very ripe old age, climate, diet, and mountain water you might say, but we like to believe it is the absence of struggle in the way we live." From Lost Horizon by James Hilton

I have never been one to give much thought to time. But a year here, and a year there and next thing you know 41 years have gone by. But as luck would have it, a quirk of my industry called "garden leave" left me with an excess supply of time this past summer. What exactly does a middle-age Scranton boy who suffers from a fear of heights do with an entire summer off from work? For me the choice was simple. I spent most of it with the family then went to Nepal - the highest country on earth - for a bit of trekking in the mountains with my mate Matt. A journey of discovery? Perhaps. I'll leave you to decide.
The "picture": funnily enough, it rains during the rainy season
While none of us like to admit it, part of the reason we take ourselves to far away places is to get "the picture" - a snapshot of you standing in front of one of those things you normally can only see in a postcard. The picture of course, is then put somewhere for everyone else to see. In Nepal "the picture" is you standing in front of one of the highest mountains on earth. Getting the picture should be easy. After all, eight of earth's fourteen 8000+ meter mountains are in Nepal. The only problem is August is Nepal's monsoon season. And in the monsoon season, it rains.. and rains.. and rains.

The monsoon complications started early. Having flown from Chicago to London to Delhi to Kathmandu and finally to Pokhora, we arrived at a tiny "airport" at 6:00 am to catch our last 30-minute flight. It would be in a 10-seat puddle jumper through one of the highest valleys on earth. Unfortunately, the monsoons left visibility at virtually zero. Luckily Binod, our guide, booked us on the 2nd flight of the morning. When I asked why, he smiled and just insisted we didn't want to be on the first flight. By 11am the first flight did take off. Forty five minutes later Binod's logic sunk in. The passengers of the first flight to Jomson returned having never landed - their white faces pretty much saying all that was needed about navigating a tiny plane through a Himalayan valley during the rainy season. It was time for Plan B. We abandoned the scenic Jomson valley trek and drove two hours to the south entrance of Annapurna national park to begin an alternative 5-day trek.

Two days into walking and I started to wonder whether I would ever get the "picture". While day one was perfectly sunny, we were too low to see anything. Then in the early hours of day two the skies opened up and I had my first real experience with the power and persistence of the monsoon rain. With our schedule tight, we had no choice but to press on. So we walked seven hours and 1500 vertical meters (nearly 5000 feet for the Scranton folk) in torrential rains. By the afternoon I was drenched, tired and in despair - having flown halfway around the world to get a picture of me in front of a Himalayan peak, I found myself trekking through scenery that could pass for any rainy day in the Pocono mountains.


Then, as we arrived in the hip trekker town of Ghorepani the rain stopped, the clouds thinned and I began to spot the mountain gems of the Annapurna range. First came Annapurna South (7219 meters; I am pictured in front of it), then Annapurna I (8091 meters, 10th highest in world), then the Dhaulagiri range (Peak I is the 7th highest in the world) and the next day Machapuchare, known as fishtail for its unique peak (Matt and I are having a beer in front of it). Admittedly, these ranges get far less attention then eastern Nepal's Mount Everest. But the Annapurna region is no less beautiful and has proved more treacherous. The fishtail mountain has never been climbed successfully. And Annapurna I has had only 103 successful climbs - and 53 deaths. Waking up alone at 4:30 am on Day 3 to watch the sunrise hit the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges, I came to realize I was in Nepal for more than just a picture.

Language barriers: beware of those "lay-jes"
While I am known for having many skills, language is not one of them. So like any American who travels the world, I have grown used to expecting those around me to speak English, except of course in Paris and most of Scotland. English is pretty common in Nepal. But as I often find, language barriers can come in many shapes and forms. There are translation barriers. When I spoke to Binod ahead of my trek, I was very clear about what I was aiming for - an easy walk in the hills of Nepal where I can see a few mountains and experience Nepalese culture. No problem, he assured me. But "moderate trek" does not translate easily into Nepalese. Our "easy" day was five hours of trekking in the mid-August sun. Thereafter, I struggled to find anything easy. Day two was seven hours of walking up 1500 vertical meters. And while days three and four were virtually flat, in Nepalese flat means spending the day alternatively walking up and down 1000 meters to reach the same altitude. By day five, we technically went down hill, but my withered body didn't notice.

Then there are also those tricky accents. Most Nepalese guides speak decent English. But it doesn't always sound quite like the English you are accustomed to. Early into the trek, Binod kindly warned me to stay away from the "lay jes". Since I had mentioned my fear of heights, I figured he was telling me about some upcoming mountain ledges. Not quite. Binod was warning me about something I would have known myself had I read my Nepal guide book. During the rainy season blood-sucking, genuinely icky leeches are everywhere... and I mean everywhere. And while I'd like to think they are equal opportunity blood suckers, those "lay jes" seemed especially attracted to me. By the end of the trip, I had managed to be bitten 10 times and had lost a non-negligible amount of blood. The rest of my party - Matt, Binod and our porter "Donna" didn't manage 10 bites between them. The picture above is my foot after one of my "special" post-trek discoveries.

Culture: Tuxedo-clad Nepalese men singing "Hey Jude"
Most people I meet assume that my business travels have introduced me to many different cultures. Fair enough. But to be honest, most of my trips blend - a mix of wandering through airports filled with western duty free shops and sitting at a Grand Hyatt sipping single malt while listening to a local sing Broadway show tunes. This trip started out the same. After two consecutive overnight flights, we checked into one of Kathmandu's only 5-star hotels. For our first night we figured the hotel's buffet and promise of "local" music would be a good introduction to Nepal. While there was nice local barbeque, the pasta and French wine list made it feel a little fake. Then, as I noshed on my tiramisu, a guy in a white and blue tuxedo walked up to the microphone and started singing "Hey Jude" in a harsh Nepalese accent. It occurred to me this wasn't quite what I had in mind when I decided to come to Nepal. Fortunately, once you leave Kathmandu and head to the mountains, you leave all elements of 5-star behind you. Trekking culture is an interesting mix of mountain Nepalese, slick city-born english-speaking guides and western hippies in search of Shangri la (not the hotel). I am pretty sure I was the only investment banker (technically Matt is a fund manager).

The core of trekking culture is the Tea House. For $1-2 per night, you get a "private" room with a musty old mattress and quite a few insects. There is usually one toilet (a hole in the ground) and one shower, typically in the same room as the toilet. But the heart of Tea House and its main allure is the central gathering room. All houses have them. Here all the activity takes place. You eat your meals here. While all Tea Houses offer western dishes, the local food is normally safer for the stomach and better tasting. A beer is normally 2-3 times more expensive than the room, but you are usually too tired to drink much anyway. The central space is where you go to warm yourself by the central (and only) fire. And the central fire serves as the central (and only) dryer (pictured).

Importantly, the central space is where you swap stories with fellow trekkers. There was the clueless young American couple, who managed to miss the path one day. By the time they arrived in the central space they were covered in leeches, their constant smiles still in place (still smiling in the picture). Or the idealistic social-worker from Seattle, who spent one night speaking to a wandering holy man who didn't speak much English. There was the asthmatic Italian on his way to Annapurna base camp at 17,000 feet. He made my fear of heights look trivial. And the middle-age, chain-smoking Polish couple, traveling with an odd German mother-son combo. In the world I live in, the chance of meeting any of these people is remote. But for a few nights, we shared beers and stories with a comradery gained from our days on the mountain paths. Even better, Tea House culture is mainly class free. My fondest evening was the one where our guides and porters broke out their Nepalese drums and filled the central room with music and dancing that took me far away from the man in the tuxedo singing "Hey Jude" - see a video below of my Matt dancing to one of those tunes.

New perspectives: keep the toilet paper dry!
I suppose what I will most remember about the trip was the perspective it brought. As I said in a previous blog, 20 years of living an urban, mainly banking life style has made me a little soft. Ten days in Nepal made me realize how soft. While I managed to make it through the trip with no major stomach problems, Matt was not as lucky. On our trek through torrential rain, he gave me my first sense of perspective. During a morning break he quickly opened his bag to check the belongings. In our world, the first priority would probably be whether his expensive camera equipment had survived the rains. On a Nepal trek the only thing that mattered was his roll of toilet paper was still dry. It was, which served him well a few hours later in the middle of the trail - literally. Better to lose some dignity than be swarmed be those pesky "lay jes".

Parts of our trek took us off the beaten track. So much so that not all Tea Houses offered bottled water. After sweating off a few liters on one particularly tough day, the absence of drinkable water left a feeling of thirst I have never witnessed, nor wish to witness again. To fill the void, we drank the entire stock of Fanta the Tea House had to offer. When we left the next morning we were significantly poorer (ironically a Fanta will cost you 3-4 times the cost of the room) and had bladders full of orange piss. Oddly, it was the only day I wasn't bitten by leeches.

But perspective in the mountains is only half the story. Nepal's economy is hugely dependent on the trekking crowd, so the country goes to great lengths to service their visitors. One night in Ghorepani we played snooker with Binod and Donna on a regulation English table. Since there are no roads, we learned that porters had to carry the table up in pieces, all to provide the trekkers with a little bit of home. You gain real perspective on Nepal when you leave the mountains and drive through Katmandu. The city is pretty appalling. There is no infrastructure. And the bumper-to-bumper traffic allows you to witness in slow motion the sheer level of Nepal's poverty. GDP per capita is $340 per year - the cost of an moderately upscale night out in Chelsea. 55% of the population is below the international poverty line of $1.25 per day. Adult literacy is 57%. And infant mortality is ranked 57th in the world (actually a big improvement from 20 years ago). It is a tough existence. That said, it is the only perspective most Nepalese know. And with this, they manage the be generally friendlier, more open and seemingly less stressed than many people I know in London. Perhaps Nepal truly is Shangri la. I suppose I'll need to go back again some day and investigate.

A Scranton Boy In Chelsea

We Retired DINKs Owe A lot to Steve Jobs

A few years ago I was attending a management-training course, back in the days when banks had enough money to think those courses were useful. During one session I was asked to name the three people I admired most in history. My choices were Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln and Steve Jobs. While the first two would not come as a surprise to people who know me, the choice of Steve Jobs probably needs some explaining. Since the main goal of management courses was to sound cleverer than your colleagues, I marveled at how Steve revolutionized whole industries - he is most well known for desktop computing, music and today mobile phones. But for a person who opted to have children a little later than many, Steve Jobs’ impact on me was deeper and more personal. I just wasn't at liberty to say why to my hard-charging, mostly male investment banking colleagues.

To understand, we need to rewind 20 years. Dina and I met in university, when she was a freshman and I was a sophomore. By the time we left school, we were pretty sure that we would get married. We were less sure on when we would have children. You have to remember I grew up in Scranton and boarded my first airplane at the ripe young age of 22. I had a world to see. As for Dina, the lack of any experience around children meant she was happy to go with my plan. So we graduated from university, got married and began a near 15-year period of our lives as DINKS (dual income, no kids).

It was a great time. Sundays were a late brunch, with the New York Times in one hand, a Bloody Mary in the other. Sundays began late of course, because Saturday nights were spent in Greenwich Village pubs with our large web of friends. The rest of our weekend was spent in pursuit of movies and music. For those of you who appreciate 70s punk and 90s grunge, two fond memories I have from my early 20s were getting stuck in a mosh pit as Joey Ramone (RIP; www.youtube.com/watch?v=agzIcrmg5mY) jumped on stage in a club in Trenton and listening to pre-fame Smashing Pumpkins in a club in Hoboken with a capacity of around 75, including the bar staff.

Of course, a few times each year we would travel as only DINKs can. In Botswana, we sat on top of our safari jeep sipping beers and watching the sun set over the plains. In Thailand, we scaled the 309 steps to reach Wat Doi Suthep (a monastery) and receive a blessing from a Buddhist monk. After a full's day hike in the Andes, we walked through the Puerta Del Sol to look 1500 feet below at the lost ancient city of Machu Picchu (since found by a herd of tourists and trekkers). We only had two travel rules: we never went to the same place twice (Paris and Rome were exceptions) and travel budgets were for wimps.

Then on March 29th 2004, on the eve of Ranen's arrival into our lives, we realized our days as DINKs had come to an end. Don't get me wrong, we were very eager to become parents. Its just that after 20 years of doing whatever you wanted whenever you wanted to, having kids came as a bit of a shock. Gone were the days of dining out 4-5 times per week. Babies needed to be in bed by 7pm (apart from Gideon, who never goes to sleep). My IPod suddenly had a section for kids filled with English nursery rhymes. We gave up on movies all together, since we only go out one night each week and it seems a little silly to spend it staring at a screen for two hours. As for travel, the days of exotic, manic trips around the world have made way for unexotic, especially manic ones. No more driving the Garden Route in South Africa staying in different inns every night. These days it’s a 2-hour drive to the Dorset Coast to a place with a nice kitchen and access to a local pharmacy. And while we still think budget travel is for wimps, our money is spent making the travel a little easier, like an occasional purchase of Virgin Upper Class seats (with some help from my infinite amount of air miles) on our visits to the US (the pictures show the boys enjoying their seats!)

This is where Steve Jobs comes in. In 1986, after losing a power struggle with Apple, Jobs acquired the computer graphics division of LucasFillm, Ltd for $10 million. Shortly afterward the company was renamed Pixar. In 1995, Pixar went public for $140 million and released its first full-length animated feature, Toy Story. Pixar probably had no idea it was about to revolutionize the animated film business and along the way make the transition to parenthood for film, music and travel-loving DINKs like me a little easier. Back in 1995, animated film was nearly dead – accounting for less than 1% of US film revenues. By 2008, that share had jumped to 10%. Pixar was the undisputed leader and main driver of the rise. (Pixar sold itself to Disney for $7.4 billion in 2006).

While the amazing computer graphics played a part in Pixar’s success, their real "secret" is the movies are incredibly appealing to parents and kids alike. The stories are funny and complex – in ways 5-year old don’t always understand, nor does it matter. Pixar was also the first to attract big actors to star in animated films. Tom Hanks played the lead role in Toy Story. And Paul Newman’s last acting role was as Doc, a retired racing car in Cars. These days, Hollywood stars fight over animated film roles. Pixar even recognized the power of the soundtrack. Indeed, I am happy to admit I have most of the songs from Cars on my IPod. I told Ranen I bought them for him, but I was fibbing.

So while Steve Jobs will be remembered by most for the way he revolutionized media industries, those early-in-life DINKS and later-in-life parents like me owe him a special thanks. Sure I no longer spend my weekends in search of music and movies or travel to exotic places. But the IPod has allowed me to rekindle my love of music – and create a budding interest in music in the boys. As for movies, I can't think of a better past time on a rainy London day than sitting on the sofa with Dina and the kids and reciting almost every line of a Pixar movie (check out the video below as Gideon gives his best impression of Tom Hanks as Woody). And when we do travel, I have our Pixar library ready to pop into the portable DVD player to keep the kids occupied while Dina and I sip a glass of Virgin Upper Class champagne!

Am I nostalgic for my days as a DINK? Sure, sometimes I am. But I wouldn’t give up my current life with Dina and the boys for anything - especially when you have guys like Steve Jobs around to make it a little easier.


A Scranton Boy In Chelsea

P.S. I haven’t totally given up my DINK life. I wrote most of this story on a 3-day trip to Vienna with Dina ohne kinder (without children, for the Scrantonians). Even better, this is the first blog written on my new MacBook Pro - my conversion to Apple is nearly complete!

Anger Management, the Abe Lincoln Way

"My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope on earth," Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

Like the rest of the banking industry, I have watched recent events in America with quiet resignation. My industry deserves to be punished for the greed, irresponsibility and poor judgement that marked the years leading up to this financial crisis. To be sure, I can name a few co-conspirators. But never mind that. This crisis needs its dastardly villian and the banker is a worthy choice. But in America's rush to punish the bad guys, mob rule is taking hold. As is often the case with mobs, the urge to punish, and to do so harshly, is overwhelming society's responsibility to set criteria for deciding who the bad guy is. In the America I know and love, even the bad guy gets a chance to tell his story. So while I never intended this blog to be a forum for rants, I feel I can no longer sit by passively as the mob takes over. I want to tell my story, even if most people reading it already know it.

I grew up in Scranton, the quintissential small US town. It is middle to lower income. It is a region poplulated with 3rd and 4th generation immigrants - mainly catholic and European, especially Irish and Italian (I have a little of both in me, along with a dash of Polish). While Scrantonians are under-represented at US universities, I am pretty sure there are many who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has always been that way. My father served in the army and my uncle died a marine, on his way home from Vietnam. I never met him. American flags have always been proudly raised outside of Scranton homes - even more so after September 11, 2001.

When you visit Scranton, you get the sense that time has passed it by. Its "boom" days were many years ago, when the region supplied the country with the coal to power its industry. My grandfathers both worked with the mining companies. As they died young, I never met them either. In recent years, Scranton has tried to reinvent itself, with only modest success. First it attempted a period as a defense contractor. But the cuts to the defense industry during the Clinton years put an end to that. Then it had a go at call centers. But it is much cheaper to set up those centers in India. These days, Scranton is having its 15 minutes of fame, as the setting for the US version of The Office. The show originated here in England, in a town called Slough - not too different from Scranton, actually.

I grew up in one of those lower-middle class, flag-flying homes. Neither of my parents went to college, but three of their four children did. I paid my way through my undergraduate degree on scholarship grants, student loans and nearly full-time work. The loans I proudly paid off on time. I remember beginning my working life by driving my new Honda Civic (another loan taken and paid) to New Jersey carrying everything I owned. I had $6000 to my name. I worked my way up the corporate ladder the hard way. I wasn't part of a graduate program. I began at the bottom - doing menial jobs, putting in twelve hour days and earning a graduate degree at night. With a little luck and a lot of patience, I landed a job beyond my boyhood dreams: world travel; manic, unpredictable days on a buzzing trading floor; and the chance to play a pivotal role in growing, multi-million dollar business.

As part of my job, I moved to London with Dina in January 2003. It was a difficult time to be an American overseas. The goodwill the world had extended the US after September 11, an event I witnessed from across the street in my New York City office, was fading fast. The Bush Administration was about the launch its ill-fated, highly unpopular war in Iraq. One of our first memories in London was walking out of our home and into a sea of muslim humanity. Not 100 yards from our front door we were witnessing our first war protest. Soon after, we visited Belgium and had to resort to pretending to be Spanish. Thankfully, Dina partially speaks the language (I just stared and tried to look stupid, which has never been hard for me). And while we sympathized with many of the frustrations that Europeans had with George Bush and his policies, throughout those trying days, we remained proud Americans.

I often say that my story is what the small-town American dream is all about. With a lot of hard work, a little luck and a set of strong values, you can accomplish nearly anything. And I did. It just so happens that my dream was built around the business of banking. And while many in America will have me hold my head down, that is one thing I will not do. To this day I remain proud of everything I have acheived. Yes, I am a banker. But I don't run a ponzi scheme, or sell mortgages to households that can't afford them. And I can't price a complex derivative to save my life. I simply look at market prices and economic trends and advise clients on whether currencies will go up or down. Yes, I have made a decent living at it. But I have always performed my job with honesty and integrity - just as I was taught to do as a boy in Scranton.

So while I am not asking for sympathy, I do want to be heard. My warning to the mob is beware of the law of unintended consequences. Congress is set to vote on a bill that will tax most Wall Street bonuses at 90%. While this will make the mob feel better, the bill does come with consequences. For one thing, most of those dastardly villians the public wants to punish are in jail, on their way to jail, retired or looking for jobs in parts of the industry that no longer exist. Many that are left are like me: hard-working Americans whose luck is running out. Many of them have paid dearly for this crisis already. Barney Frank has suggested that Wall Street executives do not lose anything when their firms fail. I wonder whether he ever read the details of Lehman Brother's employee stock ownership program.

Meanwhile, part of the bill up for vote is a retroactive tax on money already paid to bankers. While this is not technically an unravelling of one of America's great strengths - respect for the binding contract -it is pretty damn close. Do we really want to go down that slippery slope in an effort to recoup $165 million from AIG employees? I sure don't, at least not for the equivalent of 1/1000th of annual American GDP. The payments of bonuses to AIG employees is an outrage. But they are based on contracts written before this crisis took hold. Unless the government is willing to let AIG fail, it should pay the contracts or hope the money is returned by choice.

Most importantly, if we are ever going to get out of this mess, main street needs to come to terms with the fact that it needs a healthy Wall Street. Watching last week's circus in Washington, I couldn't help thinking the country was snatching defeat from the arms of victory. An unprecedented amount of policies have been put in place to fix the American economy. And believe it or not, there are some signs the economy is finding a bottom. But there are two consequences of this bill, perhaps unintended, but almost certainly assured. First, Wall Street will focus far more on paying back the government money than it will lending to credit-worthy Americans. Second, the pool of talented bankers that remains will seek the relative saftey of foreign banks. I suspect the stock market realized this when it reversed course and started falling again at the end of this week.

As an avid reader of history, one of my true heros is Abraham Lincoln. A little story about him comes to mind. In a fit of anger, Lincoln wrote a letter to his young, impetuous and incompetent general, George B. McClellan. He then sealed the letter in an envelope and placed it in his desk drawer. He opened it a few days later when his anger had receded, to read it one last time. That letter was never sent. On the eve of the Senate vote, my hope is this bill - drafted in a fit of anger - is put in a desk drawer to be opened on another day. There is plenty of time to punish the arsonists. Right now, we need to put out the fire.

A Scranton Boy in Chelsea

P.S. For my dozen or so loyal readers, I want to thank you for your patience and understanding. I promise the next blog will get back to the most important things in my life: Dina, the boys and our lives in London.