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By Rob Cox
Pity all those 30-ish Greg Smiths who entered the industry after the dot-com bust and tirelessly served MDs minting record bonuses in the leverage boom. Now comp is down and their bosses aren’t moving. Even Goldman’s partnership must make way for the new realities of finance.
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BBC shows how not to manage a crisis

By Hugo Dixon
The broadcaster is reeling after its boss quit following two terrible journalistic errors. Slowness to get a grip on the situation may not be all his fault. It probably also reflects organisational and cultural flaws. The BBC mustn’t waste the crisis as a chance to make changes.

Diageo’s India splash won’t get Kingfisher flying

By Andy Mukherjee
The British group’s cash brings relief to India’s largest liquor company and its chairman Vijay Mallya. The hope is the tycoon will use some of his booty to revive grounded Kingfisher Airlines. But without a strong partner and the promise of debt restructuring, that won’t happen.

Who would argue with a U.S. millionaire tax hike?

By Daniel Indiviglio
OK, millionaires would. But selling out the 250,000 super-rich by taxing them at Clinton-era rates might be the political compromise needed to avert the fiscal cliff. It would only raise a third less than hiking rates on Americans earning $200,000 but snag 2 mln fewer taxpayers.

Election reveals clear calculus: 47 pct > 1 pct

By Jeffrey Goldfarb
Ultra-wealthy candidates and supporters - from the billionaire Koch brothers and their man Mitt Romney to pro wrestling maven Linda McMahon - learned the hard way that money can’t buy everything in America. Voting rights can be a great equalizer in a land of income inequality.

O-Burma trip rewards reformists for job half done

By Wayne Arnold
Including Myanmar in the president’s first post-re-election trip abroad is reward for dramatic reforms and cultivates a key ally in the U.S. pivot to Asia. But it’s sure to antagonize China’s new leaders - and could reduce pressure on Myanmar to make to make even tougher changes.
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Review: Embracing the psychopath within

By Martin Langfield
“The Wisdom of Psychopaths” is a good read lurking within a bad one. Amidst the showboating, Kevin Dutton’s book mines brain science to make a cogent case that some psychopathic traits - seen in CEOs, traders and monks as well as serial killers - are not only necessary, but good.
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