I am techie working in the banking industry for last decade for some of the top banks in Canada. Here is what I have noticed from a micro perspective: In these lines of businesses --commercial banking, online banking , retail banking -- the pay is shit, the work is heavily outsourced and the PCs are crappy and stifling bureaucracy . Where as in capital markets Line Of Business, the pay is awesome, the PCs/notebooks are best of class and there is virtually no outsourcing and little bureaucracy. This leads me to believe that banks value capital markets operations more that commercial banking. However, it is obvious that commercial banking provides more value to the society as they enable businesses to borrow to grow and expand . Capital markets and trading activities of the bank earn more profits but I doubt they have as much impact on growth of a business.
Finance will always rule ; however society should make an effort to discriminate between different sub-sectors of finance industry. Short term trading is not as valuable to society as giving $100mm loan to a businesses.
In London, i observe considerable bureaucracy, outsourcing, and all-round incompetence in capital markets organisations. Quite possibly less than in retail operations, though.
Finance will always rule ; however society should make an effort to discriminate between different sub-sectors of finance industry. Short term trading is not as valuable to society as giving $100mm loan to a businesses.