Did Psychopaths Take Over Wall Street?

[Ghost Dog]

By William D. Cohan Jan 3, 2012 12:01 AM GMT+0000 26 Comments

Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- It took a relatively obscure former British academic to propagate a theory of the financial crisis that would confirm what many people suspected all along: The “corporate psychopaths” at the helm of our financial institutions are to blame.

Clive R. Boddy, most recently a professor at the Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University, says psychopaths are the 1 percent of “people who, perhaps due to physical factors to do with abnormal brain connectivity and chemistry” lack a “conscience, have few emotions and display an inability to have any feelings, sympathy or empathy for other people.”

As a result, Boddy argues in a recent issue of the Journal of Business Ethics, such people are “extraordinarily cold, much more calculating and ruthless towards others than most people are and therefore a menace to the companies they work for and to society.”

How do people with such obvious personality flaws make it to the top of seemingly successful corporations? Boddy says psychopaths take advantage of the “relative chaotic nature of the modern corporation,” including “rapid change, constant renewal” and high turnover of “key personnel.” Such circumstances allow them to ascend through a combination of “charm” and “charisma,” which makes “their behaviour invisible” and “makes them appear normal and even to be ideal leaders.”

/more... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-03/did-psychopaths-take-over-wall-street-asylum-commentary-by-william-cohan.html

[Autumn]

1. Sounds like the politicians we have spewing their crap

day in and day out. Since Wall Street has bought said politicians and own them I would say yes. They are a menace to our country.

[midnight]

2. Lawlessness breads an anything goes mentality...

The notion that the rest of us are to trust these greedy pirates is over the top. There is a reason those in Washington curry favor with Wall Street via insider trading... Washington removed all over site and gave them the keys to our retirement accounts, and the creativity to create "tools" to sell us over inflated mortgages, and clean out any and all wealth from the working folks...

[riverbendviewgal]

3. Without oversight then the worst people rise to the top

I like his idea that people in power should be screened to make sure that they actually care for others. 4

[ut oh]

9. The power hungry already 'pass' a test like this on the campaign trail

And a vast majority are cheating on this teat....

[Bozita]

18. "Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will...

"Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all." - John Maynard Keynes

[WillyT]

4. K & R !!!

[ddickey]

5. Check out Ronson's book

Jon Ronson pursues this notion in his book, The Psychopath Test. A great read.

[glinda]

19. and there is a term for when they attract each other and form a "grouping"

wish I could remember it but it is well known in psychology fields that this is common

[qb]

6. They've been there all along. The regulations that held them in check went away.

[Prophet 451]

7. Yes, they did

The same clinical criteria that defines psychopathy (lack of or very limited conscience, remorse, regret or empathy) are the same traits which make them adept at exploiting the internal politics or corporations AND make them feel nothing at screwing over customers. If we actually look through Dr. Hare's psychopathy checklist, a large number of business leaders and a fair few politicians qualify as psychopathic. I have a friend who used to ask how these people slept at night. He doesn't ask anymore since I explained that they sleep just fine, they have no conscience to trouble them.

[ut oh]

8. I would say more like...

sociopaths...

“conscience, have few emotions and display an inability to have any feelings, sympathy or empathy for other people.”

The ones who burn cats/dogs when they were kids. Never feeling remorseful.

This seems more like the definition of sociopath. I think psycopaths would have a much harder time hiding their psychosis than sociopaths. A socialpath can just seem like a go-getter and are more in control of themselves, while a psycopath would definitely show more 'oddities'.

[Larry Ogg]

22. Blurring the Psychopath with Sociopath and switching attributes is a common mistake.

Sociopath is more like a common ally cat dodging cars and chasing mice in broad daylight, compared to the psychopath, they are much easier to spot if you know what to look for.

Whereas Psychopath is like a rare panther, hiding in the shadows waiting to strike its unsuspecting prey who will never see what’s coming until it is way to late. They are very difficult to spot, even the experts who know what to look for are not above being fooled into the Psychopaths trap.

When and if a union of evil exists between the two, Psychopath will almost always ends up being the puppet master, and Sociopath the subservient puppet. But then, by some miracle, the alley cat might get lucky and defeat the panther. But as a rule, the Sociopath will bow to the Psychopath or one of them is going to die. And if I were a betting man, I would have to be a naive fool not to put my money on the master of human evil incarnate, i.e. the Psychopath.

[tclambert]

10. Weren't the psychopaths always in charge of Wall Street?

The system of rewarding ruthless profiteers that promotes the psychopaths to leadership positions has existed for a long time. I remember wondering in the 1980s if a disproportionate number of CEOs were psychopaths.

Look at it this way--If you were a psychopath, what career choices might you want to pursue? There's serial killer, of course, like Ted Bundy. But he came to a bad end. Running a Ponzi scheme, like Bernie Madoff? Maybe. Corporate executive? It seems made for these types. Republican politician? You betcha. Kindergarten teacher? No way.

[madrchsod]

11. there are so many of them now that we have finally really noticed

sort of like kockroaches....

[Dont call me Shirley]

12. Psychopaths do have the lower emotions such as revenge, hatred, win-no-matter-how

Attitudes such as Greedspan's "Hate the customer" reflect such psychopathy.

[merkozy]

13. THE [WALL STREET] GODS MUST BE CRAZY

I am surprised it has taken a research paper to say this, but personally I have always thought that bankers exhibit specific symptoms of Narcissistic Personal Disorder. This is a condition in which a person has an inflated sense of self-importance, chronic deception, preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, a marked lack of empathy, a driven desire for attention and admiration, an intolerance of criticism, and disturbed self-centred interpersonal relations. They are often referred to as being conceited and generally have a low self-esteem, which they try to mask through reckless bravado. They act selfish interpersonally, with a sense of entitlement. At some stage, they lose all connection with reality.

Going through the above symptom list a junior psychiatrist can easily tick 'YES' against the traits exhibited by bankers during this crisis. Arguably, nothing demonstrates bankers' sense of entitlement more than their insistence on getting bonuses even as they seem to everyone else to be nothing but rewards for failure. The laughable claim that they should be paid retention bonuses because they have special talents is conclusive proof that the psychos have reached the last and most dangerous stage of the progression of this disease- the complete loss of connection with reality.
http://www.maverickonomics.com/2011/11/29/the-wall-street-gods-must-be-crazy-4/

[libodem]

14. psychopaths

Rich fucks same difference.

[TBF]

15. Not only Wall Street but Gov't as well - this is what capitalism requires

It is a mistake to think that these are simply bad or sick actors - it is a systemic problem. Capitalism needs to go.

[fascisthunter]

16. Been Saying this for a While

However sociopath seems to fit the definition better.

[blue-wave]

17. Yes, They've Been Running Things

for centuries. They took over wall street and IMHO are planted firmly in many political and social institutions of importance. Only now are people waking up to the fact. All one needs to do is have some knowledge of history and all the bloodshed and pain caused/created by those in power. There's even been extensive research on the subject of psychopaths in positions of power and how they are able achieve their positions. The resulting book was suppressed for years. Check out the link. It's quite eye opening.

http://www.ponerology.com/index.html

[independentLiberal]

20. good read

good article. but it certainly does appear that way...

[zeos3]

21. K&R

[Mosaic]

23. Conservatives are psychopaths

They believe in fairy tales, in magic, in their own self importance, in exceptionalism/narcissism. The 1% are conservatives, the true elite are cons, they lie and say those who know humans are equal are idealists or the "elite", they are full of shit and they know it. Psychopaths indeed, and class war will end with them in the ash heap of history.