Whilst I think this was inevitable, as banks have become increasingly technical, it also makes me a bit sad that now you need a Math PhD from MIT and a Harvard MBA to go and be a trader.

I think back to an earlier HN discussion [1] on the article "The Rent Seeking is Too Damn High" [2] - when my father worked at a bank he said it wasn't uncommon for your market salesman from the street to get picked up as a trader, indeed my friends mother went from secretary to trader. She was given a chance because her boss felt like she had a spark about her.

It's fun to look back on the past with rosy eyes thinking "those days were better" but truly how can we hope for meritocratic (in the true sense of the word!) social mobility if you need 0.5 million USD in school fees to get a job as a trader?