Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Some Classic Banker Jokes from L. William Sediman


L.William Sediman was the Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Among the classic bankers' jokes attributed to him are the following:

On The World Bank's blank cheque aids

"I was there for the World Bank and we had $2 billion to spend, and if you want to really be treated royally, just wander through Russia with $2 billion that you can provide them... I got so full of caviar that I couldn't look at a fish egg again."
On the Russian lending problem

"I went into one small bank and there were three or four of the tougher looking Russians sitting around with AK47s and I said, I know that crime is awful around here, but do you need to have a real army here to defend this small of a bank? They said, well, they are not here to defend the bank, those are the people who collect our loans."
On the Japan banking problem

"A doctor calls up his patient and says, I have bad news for you and worse news for you. You have only 24 hours to live. The patient says, oh, that's terrible. What could be worse news? The doctor says, I've been trying to get you since yesterday."

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