It’s been another dismal week, as City institutions take yet another step down that staircase to their self-inflicted market hell. Stocks fell to new lows, notably for financial titans such as Bank of New York (down 18%), Citigroup (down 20%) State Street (down 59%), and RBS (down 65%.) Bankers have gone from being the most envied, the most coveted, and the most spoiled people on the planet to being simply the most repulsive. Our bragging, shagging culture has been replaced by a culture of corruption. Indeed, normally overconfident City bankers are now facing an abnormal crisis of identity. I, for one, am seeking a profession with a better reputation – estate agent, tabloid journalism, or stripper, perhaps. I looked westward for a glimmer of hope. America’s Inauguration Day was supposed to symbolize fresh starts and jubilation – a welcome break from our back-peddling trepidation. I was struck by Obama’s message on the role of markets, questioning, “whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended… on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.” I’d like to believe that his inspirational rhetoric is not merely sweet-sounding sound bites. Given, President Obama is operating on another mental level than most City bankers – far above our prosaic, status-obsessed, money-grubbing mindset. While we worry about the congestion charge, Obama worries about the effect of chloroflorocarbons. But the City needs an identity makeover as badly as America does. Of course, bankers have never emitted warm fuzzy vibes, but as this crisis intensifies, our aura sinks to unfathomable lows. I’m hoping a kind of “Square Mile Obama” will appear, who can snap us out of our slump into a higher economic consciousness – a place where bankers are so judicious, people will bask in our limelight instead of running from it. Now that the “City” has become a dirty word, we need to ask: are we a force for good or evil? Being a banker is fraught with many negative connotations, but to change our reputation, it logically seems that “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Can the City re-invent itself? (You already know the answer.) Yes, we can.