Bankers must be heaving a sigh of relief as the shenanigans of the offshore drilling industry have pushed them to the edge of the radar screen of those targeting corporate greed. But it is unlikely their respite will be for long. Inquiries under way are bound to unearth more instances of ethically, and even legally, challenged bankers. When overlaid on images of bankers hankering after their outlandish bonuses soon after being bailed out with public money, the public picture of an industry motivated only by money and without any sense of the larger consequences of its actions will be reinforced. How do we instill more social values in the industry? Or is banker greed mostly good?

Most people do not work for money alone; a primary motivation for many is the knowledge that their work makes the world a better place. Bankers are no different, but their work differs from most other professions in two important ways. First, a broker who sells bonds issued by an electric power project is merely a cog in a gigantic machine, who never sees the plant she helped build. Second, the most direct measure of her contribution is the money she makes for her firm. This is where both the merits of the arm's-length financial system and its costs arise.

Take for instance a trader who sells short the stock of a company he feels is being mismanaged. He does not see the workers who lose their jobs or the hardship that unemployment causes their families. But short sellers perform a valuable social function by depriving poorly managed companies of resources they will waste. A company whose stock price tanks will not be able to raise financing easily and could be forced to close down.