Michio Kaku: Investment Banking Massage
on Monday, January 25, 2016Michio Kaku Money Quotation saying theoretical physics creates new technology as opposed to investment banking, which simply moves money around. Michio Kaku said:
“I have nothing against investment banking, but it’s like massaging money rather than creating money” — Michio Kaku
In this quote, physicist Michio Kaku is drawing a comparison between investment banking and other types of economic activity. Specifically, he suggests that while investment banking is a legitimate profession, it is more akin to “massaging money” by shifting funds between investments, rather than “creating money” through new products or services.
The implication is that banking focuses more on financial engineering and transactions rather than building real economic value through innovation or increasing productivity in the same way that other sectors do.
So in essence, Kaku is acknowledging investment banking as a valid industry but also characterizing it as more transactional and speculative in nature compared to work that generates tangible wealth through new technologies, infrastructure or goods/services.