To The Contrary

Former client and long time banker Pat Dalrymple (the subject of a previous post) has joined the world of banking bloggers with "Contrabanker: A Bank Contrarian's Blog"). If Pat's first post is any indication, he's going to provide a no-holds-barred, cranky (but amusingly so) read. That's what happens when you've been around the block so many times: nothing surprises you and you don't really give a hoot whose toes you step on when you tell us what you really think.

After "dissing" himself for not being the "expert" he thought he was (modestly omitting the impact of an economic steamroller fired up and run by bad boys and girls much bigger than his small institution), Pat tells us some of what he's learned:

• Bankers can be very smart, and yet do very dumb things.


• I was never as smart as I thought I was when things went well, or as dumb as I viewed myself when they went badly.


• And, to paraphrase Bobby Kennedy on politicians (and he got it from somebody else): "To be a banker, you've got to be smart enough to do it, and dumb enough to think it's important".

Pat's got some other gems, particularly about interest reserves, so I recommend you read the whole thing. I hope it's the first of many enjoyable (and snarky) posts to come.