Liar’s Poker

Salomon bond salesmen and traders yell at one another, overeat, play vicious pranks, and parade about when they make a good trade. Salomon managers believe this culture inspires the workers to greater productivity. Are they right, or does the bad behavior directly cause financial problems later on? Choose one of the unusual trading-floor behaviors mentioned in the book and show how it might lead to good or bad financial results later on.

Assume that Salomon’s aggressive culture does indeed improve revenues and profits. Does this justify the crude behavior? Explain why or why not.

Almost no women are bond traders at Salomon. Would more women traders improve behavior on the trading floor, or would the resulting workplace culture remain the same? List changes that might occur or areas that might be immune to alteration, and describe why you think this is the case.

Salesmen are pressured to “jam” dubious deals onto unwitting customers, and Lewis tries to minimize the damage, sometimes quietly signaling his best customers to ignore such offers. Suggest another way he might help his clients while keeping his managers at bay.

Lewis believes traders are paid exorbitantly for work that isn’t worth nearly that much. Should there be restrictions on the pay rate for brokering financial transactions? Why or why not?

You have savings to invest, but you aren’t sure you trust the sales personnel at the one bank that trades high volumes of the securities you’re interested in. Describe three ways you might resolve this dilemma. Consider communication strategies, alternate investments, other banks, etc.

Despite society’s best efforts, corporate malfeasance tends to recur. Can this problem be solved, or will there always be bad actors in the business world? Give real-world examples that argue for your viewpoint.

Lewis finds that European investors tend to be superstitious. If you were selling securities to them, would you go along with their beliefs or try to talk them out of it? Explain why.